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tihvavy  of  Che  t1\eolo0ical  ^tmimry 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


'd^t' 


PRESENTED  BY 

¥.IJ.  Woodward,  III 


BV  4070  .N8935  1889 

Norton,  Fred  L. 

A  college  of  colleges 


A  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES 


LED  BY 


D.  L.  MOODY, 


AND  TAUGHT  BY 


Rev.  I.  D.  Driver,  Bishop  C.  D.  Foss,  D.D.,  Prof.  W.  R.  Harper, 

Rev.  M.  D.  Hoge,  D.D.,  Rt.  Rev.  M.  E.  Baldwin,  Rev. 

A.  J.  Gordon,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  T.  Pierson,  D.D., 

Mr.  Geo.  C.  Needham,  and  others. 


SESSION   OF   1889. 


EDITED   BY 

FRED   L.  ^NORTON. 


: :  f  lemtno  1b.  IRevell 


New  York: 
12  bible  house,  astor  place. 


Chicago: 
148  and  150  madison  street. 


publisber  of  Evangelical  Xiterature 


Entered  accordiug  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1889,  by 

FLEMING    ir.    REVELL, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 

All  Rights  Keserved. 


PRBKACE. 


The  ''College  of  Colleges"  is  now  known  throughout  the 
world.  Representatives  are  present,  not  only  from  all  English- 
speaking  coimtries,  but  also  from  Continental  Europe  and  from 
Japan.     This  extended  representation  has  given  its  distinctive 
character  to  the  Summer  School  of  188  9.     As  these  young  men 
are  nearly  all  members  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, the  addresses  this  year  have  been  more  closely  related 
than  formerly,  both  in  theme  and  manner  of  development,  to 
the  interests  of  the  Association.     This  fact,  together  with  the 
greater  time  and  attention  devoted  to  special  Association  work, 
has  called  for  some  slight  changes  in  the  arrangement  from 
the  books  of  former  years.     An  entire  chapter  has  been  de- 
voted to  a  history  of  the   Students'   Volunteer   Movement. 
Two  of  the  longest  chapters  present  the  religious  crisis  in 
Japan,  and  the  work  of   the  Yoimg   Men's   Christian  Asso- 
ciation  in    that    coimtry ;    conditions    which    came    to    the 
front    in    the   discussion   of    practical    Christian    work.     An- 
other chapter  has  been  introduced,  descriptive  of  the  meetings 
themselves,  which  Tvill  bring  before  the  minds  of  those  who 
have  been  present  the  blessed  hoiu's  which  they  have  spent 
among  the  beautiful  hills  of  Northfield,  while  it  cannot  fail  to 
be  of  interest  to  others  who  have  not  enjoyed  this  privilege. 

Not  only  do  the  addresses  here  given  treat  old  subjects  with  a 

iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

freshness  of  thouglit  and  suggestion  whicli  will  prove  prac- 
tically helpful,  but  many  of  them  are  upon  entirely  different 
lines  of  thought  from  those  of  previous  sessions  of  the  school, 
and  open  new  fields  of  study  to  the  Christian  student.  This 
book  will  accomplish  its  purpose  if  it  shall  present  the  thought 
of  the  convention,  which  was  well  expressed  by  one  of  the 
English  students  in  the  pithy  quotation  : 

"  Thou  must  be  true  thyself,  if  thou  the  truth  would  teach ; 
Thy  soul  must  overflow,  if  thou  another  soul  would  reach." 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.— The  Great  Fact  in  the  Religious  Life  of  American  Colleges  7 

II.— The  Student  Missionary  Uprising     -------  17 

III.— Northfield  Revisited  - 28 

rv.— The  Crisis  in  Japan         33 

V.-Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Japan       -     - 57 

VI.— Student  Work  in  Great  Britain 69 

VII.— Claims  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  on  College  Graduates      -     -     -  78 

VIII.— Duty  of  Christians  to  Unevangelized  Young  Men  -     -     -  89 

IX.— Prayer         -     - 103 

X.— The  Prophecy   of  Joel 116 

XI.— The  Existence  of  God 130 

XII.— Four  Great  Religious  Certitudes  - 146 

XIII.— Conformity  to  the  Image  of  Christ  - 150 

XIV.— The  Personal   Christ  -     - 168 

XV.— The  Bible  a  Revelation   from   God 180 

XVI.— The  Personal  of  Christ      -     - 199 

XVII.— Grace          - 210 

XVIII.— The  Holy  Spirit *  -  222 

XIX.— Sanctified    Zeal 238 

XX.— Christian    Service              246 

XXI.— Characteristics   of  Christian   Ministry 257 

XXII.— The    Spirit    and    The    Word 269 

XXIII.— Interpretation  of  the  Bible 272 


CHAPTER  I. 

"THE    GREAT    FACT    IN    THE    RELIGIOUS    LIFE    OF    AMERICAN- 
COLLEGES." 

Mr.  J.  R.  Mott.  International  College  Secretary,  Reviews  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  College  Work  during  the  Year  1888-9— Rapid  Development 
of  the  College  Associations— Strengthening  and  Lengthening  the 
Intercollegiate  Tie— Student  Volunteer  INlovement  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions—Special Revival  Interest  in  American  Colleges. 

Dr.  Roswell  Hitchcock,  for  years  the  honored  Presi- 
dent of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  in  speaking 
of  the  College  Yonng  Men's  Christian  Association, 
not  long  before  his  death,  characterized  it  as  "the 
great  fact  in  the  religions  life  of  American  colleges  to- 
day." His  words  came  w^itli  authority  ;  for  few^  men 
had  studied  more  thoroughly  than  he  the  religious  life 
and  tendencies  of  our  higher  institutions  of  learning. 
A  careful  examination  of  the  development  and  influ- 
ence of  these  Associations  during  the  college  year  of 
1888-9  will  convince  one  that  Dr.  Hitchcock's  state- 
ment might  be  made  to-day  with  greater  force  than  ever. 
This  is  clearly  seen  in  the  rapid  development  of  many 
of  the  College  Associations;  in  the  lengthening  and 
strengthening  of  the  intercollegiate  tie  ;  in  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions;  and  in  the 
special  revival  interest  in  the  colleges  in  all  sections 
of  the  land. 

I.      RAPID  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Not  more  than  tw^elve  years  ago  the  religious  w^ork 
in  nearly  all  of  the  colleges  w^as  narrow  and  restricted. 
In  one  college  it  would  consist  entiirely  in  a  weekly 
prayer  meeting.    In  another  college  the  religious  inter- 

7 


8  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

est  would  center  in  a  niissionar}'  societ}-.  In  still  an- 
other compulsory  Bible  study,  with  perhaps  a  little 
neighborhood  mission  work,  would  constitute  all  that 
was  done.  Now  and  then  one  might  find  a  college  in 
which  two  or  more  of  these  lines  of  Christian  activity 
were  prosecuted.  More  often  in  such  cases  the  work 
which  might  better  have  been  done  by  one  organiza- 
tion was  divided  among  two  or  three  independent  re- 
ligious societies. 

To-ilay  in  over  two  hundred  and  eighty  of  our  leading 
colleges  and  universities  we  find  all  the  lines  of  Chris- 
tian work  among  the  young  men  directed  by  one  strong 
organization — the  College  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. It  is  no  longer  a  narrow  work,  for  in  a  large 
majority  of  these  colleges  the  Association  is  carrying 
on  a  six-fold  work  under  the  direction  of  six  committees 
viz.:  Membership,  Devotional,  Bible  Study,  Neighbor- 
hood Work,  Missionary,  and  Intercollegiate  Relations. 
The  past  year  has  witnessed  a  great  development  of 
this  committee  system.  Many  colleges,  which  did  not 
have  these  regular  committees,  have  adopted  them. 
As  a  result  the  number  of  Christian  workers  in  the 
colleges  has  been  greatly  increased.  Hundreds  of  stu- 
dents, who  one  year  ago  were  exerting  merely  a  pas- 
sive influence,  are  to-day  actively  engaged  in  personal 
work.  This  personal  work  has  been  so  thoroughly 
organized  in  some  colleges  at  the  beginning  of  the  col- 
lege year  as  to  bring  every  new  student  under  Chris- 
tian influences.  In  some  cases  it  has  led  to  revivals 
resulting  in  the  conversion  of  nearly  every  man  in  the 
college. 

Perhaps  more  attention  has  been  paid  to  Bible  study 
than  in  any  preceding  year.  As  many  !as  fifty  associ- 
ations have  talien  up  Prof.  Harper's  Inductive  Method, 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  9 

or  some  other  method  of  studying  the  Bible  as  a  text- 
book. The  Workers'  Bible  Training  class  has  been 
introduced  even  more  widely  than  the  other  system 
during  the  last  six  months,  or  since  the  publication 
of  the  new  Topical  Studies  on  the  Plan  of  Salvation. 
Every  man  who  enters  these  Training  classes  pledges 
himself  to  do  personal  work.  As  a  consequence  they 
have  been  attended  with  the  very  best  results.  For 
example,  at  the  last  New  York  State  Convention  all 
the  conversions  for  the  year,  reported  b}^  the  thirteen 
College  Associations,  could  be  traced  directly  to  the 
Bible  Training  classes. 

The  New  England  and  Canadian  colleges  have  devel- 
oped the  deputation  work  to  a  higher  degree  than  ever. 
It  has  been  found  that  many  men  can  be  drawn  to  meet- 
ings to  hear  students  from  other  colleges,  and  in  this 
way  be  impressed,  who  could  not  be  reached  in  any 
other  way.  Moreover  it  serves  to  develop  those  who 
go  on  these  deputation  visits  into  stalwart  Christian 
workers.  Not  a  few  have  been  led  to  give  themselves 
to  the  ministry  or  to  other  forms  of  religious  life-work 
as  a  result  of  the  interest  awakened  and  the  training 
afforded  by  such  work. 

The  Missionary  work  of  the  Association  has  been 
made  more  practical.  Formerly  in  a  majority  of  the 
colleges  it  consisted  simi)ly  in  arousing  a  general  inter- 
est in  the  cause  of  missions.  Now  it  seeks  to  make  all 
the  members  thoroughly  intelligent  on  this  subject  by 
a  well-conducted  series  of  meetings  and  by  circula- 
ting the  ver}^  best  missionary  literature.  It  seeks  fur- 
ther to  get  every  member  to  contribute  systematically 
to  missions.  More  than  this,  it  strives  to  get  young 
men  to  give  their  lives  to  hasten  the  evangelization  of 
the  world. 


1^  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Some  of  the  colleges  have  broadened  their  work  be- 
yond the  six  regular  committees  so  as  to  introduce  com- 
mittees to  conduct  lecture  courses  on  Christian  themes  ; 
to  develop  the  social  side  of  the  work;  to  promote  per- 
sonal purity  ;  to  direct  special  religious  w^ork  among 
the  members  of  the  different  college  classes,  etc. 

The  work  has  assumed  such  proportions  in  a  few 
colleges  that  buildings  have  "been  erected  and  dedicated 
solely  to  Association  work.  Prior  to  last  year  (1888) 
the  Princeton,  Yale  and  Toronto  Associations  se- 
cured such  buildings.  During  this  year  the  Cornell 
University  and  Hamilton  College  Associations  have 
dedicated  handsome  buildings  costing  |60,000  and 
125,000  respectively.  Within  the  present  year  the  As- 
sociation at  Johns  Hopkins  University  has  received 
a  gift  of  120,000  for  a  building  and  at  least  twelve 
Associations  have  started  building  funds.  Thus  the 
College  Associations  have  fairly  entered  upon  their 
building  era.  During  the  year  three  College  Associa- 
tions found  it  necessary  for  the  first  time  to  emplo}-^  a 
General  Secretary — a  college  graduate  giving  his  entire 
time,  or  a  large  part  of  it,  to  the  direction  of  the  differ- 
ent departments  of  work.  It  is  only  a  matter  of  time 
when  every  prominent  college  in  our  land  will  have 
upon  its  campus  a  handsomely  appointed  Association 
building,  with  its  many  lines  of  Christian  activity  di- 
rected by  an  influential,  consecrated  and  recent  college 
graduate. 

II.      STRENGTHENING    AND    LENGTHENING    THE    INTERCOLLE- 
GIATE TIE. 

The  three  agencies  which  have  been  most  influential 
in  binding  tt)gether  the  different  Associations  through- 
out the  country  and  the  world,  and  in  developing  them 
on  common  lines  of  work  are  :  the  International  Com- 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  11 

mittee,  through  its  secretarial  force,  the  State  commit- 
tees through  their  secretaries,  the  IntercoUegian,  and 
the  Northfield  Summer  School. 

The  International  Secretaries  C.  K.  Ober  and  J.  H. 
Mott  have  spent  the  year  in  establishing  Associations 
in  new  colleges,  in  developing  the  work  in  nearly  one 
hundred  old  Associations  and  in  working  up  the  North- 
field  Summer  School.  Mr.  Ober's  trips  have  taken  him 
from  New  Hampshiie  to  Nebraska  and  from  ^Montreal 
to  Kentucky.  Mr.  Mott's  tour  of  visitations  extended 
from  Nova  Scotia  to  New  Orleans  and  from  St.  Cloud, 
Minnesota,  to  Savannah,  Georgia.  Mr.  F.  K.  Saunders 
has  given  one-half  of  his  time  to  the  college  work.  It 
consisted  principally  in  visiting  the  colleges  of  New 
England  and  in  editing  the  IntercoUegian.  The  Inter- 
coUegian, which  is  the  regular  organ  of  the  Colleg'e 
Associations,  has  grown  in  favor  so  much  during  the 
year  that  it  has  been  enlarged  from  an  eight  page  bi- 
monthly to  a  sixteen  page  monthly.  Mr.  G.  J.  Hicks, 
Assistant  State  Secretary  of  Wisconsin,  spent  one 
month  among  the  colleges  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and 
Michigan  ;  and  Mr.  J.  B.  Reynolds  did  valuable  work 
in  New  England  and  Canada  before  his  departure  from 
this  country  to  promote  a  better  organized  work  among 
the  Universities  of  Europe. 

The  Northfield  Summer  School  has  been  well  called 
the  AYorld's  Convention  of  the  College  Associations. 
The  influence  of  these  meetings  on  the  religious  life 
of  colleges  in  this  and  other  lands  can  never  be  fully 
estimated.  A  very  few  of  the  many  results  of  the 
meeting  will  best  illustrate  this  intiuence.  A  Cana- 
dian University,  in  which  there  w^as  no  religious  activ- 
ity, sent  one  delegate  last  year.  He  returned  to  his 
University  and  as  a  result  of  the  new  methods  which 


12  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

lie  introducecl  the  Freshman  class  to  a  man  was  drawn 
into  the  Association,  Bible  classes  were  started,  one 
of  the  best  Association  rooms  in  Canada  was  secured, 
and  hazing  was  put  down  in  the  college.  A  little  col- 
lege in  a  Southern  State  sent  one  delegate  to  one  of 
these  meetings.  He  was  the  only  delegate  from  that 
State  with  its  sixteen  colleges.  He  returned  to  his 
college  feeling  his  responsibility,  ^^'as  made  President 
of  the  Association,  and  in  less  than  a  year  develoi)ed 
the  work  to  such  an  extent  that  every  man  in  College 
was  brought  into  the  Association.  But  his  influence 
did  not  stop  there.  He  attended  the  District  and  State 
Conventions  and  through  those  channels  introduced  the 
methods  which  he  had  drawn  from  the  exj^erience  of 
the  colleges  of  the  Avhole  country  into  the  fifteen  other 
colleges  of  his  State.  Three  delegates  left  Northfield 
a  year  ago  impressed  with  the  importance  of  winning 
men  one  by  one  to  Christ.  During  the  remainder  of  that 
summer  God  used  them  in  bringing  253  persons  to 
Christ.  Delegates  came  from  Oxford,  Cambridge  and 
Edinburgh  Universities,  and  were  impressed  with  the 
great  advantages  of  Ameiican  intercollegiate  relations 
in  religious  v>^ork.  They  determined  to  take  steps  in 
that  direction  at  home.  Consequently  this  summer, 
for  the  first  time,  we  see  an  intercollegiate  religious 
gathering  in  Great  Britain  which  admits  colleges  out- 
side of  England.  A  Japanese  nobleman  attended  one 
of  these  summer  gatherings,  and  became  so  deeply 
moved,  that,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  land,  he 
cast  his  active  influence  on  the  side  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  thus  made  possible  some  of  Mr.  AVishard's 
grandest  work  in  the  Japanese  government  schools  and 
universities. 
The  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  13 

the  largest  student  organization  in  the  world.  It  num- 
bers over  300  Associations,  having  nearly  20,000  mem- 
bers. Associations  are  to  be  found  in  the  colleges  of 
the  United  States,  Canada,  Japan,  India,  China,  Ceylon, 
Syria  and  Turkey.  In  America  alone  there  are  284  As- 
sociations. The  most  important  additions  of  the  last 
year  have  been  Acadia  College,  Emory  College,  Guil- 
ford College  and  Johns  Hopkins  University\  How 
to  draw  the  thousands  of  students  in  our  large  cities 
under  the  influence  of  the  Association  has  been  for  many 
years  an  unsolved  problem.  During  the  year  important 
steps  have  been  taken  toward  its  solution.  Fifteen  of 
the  professional  schools  and  other  higher  institutions 
of  learning  in  ^ew  York  City,  having  fully  0,000  stu- 
dents, have  been  bound  together  in  what  is  known  as 
the  Students'  Movement.  It  is  really  the  college  de- 
partment of  the  city  Association.  A  General  Secretary 
has  been  employed  to  direct  its  work.  The  Intercol- 
legiate Association  established  in  Boston  over  a  year 
ago  has  been  doing  a  thoroughly  practical  work  among 
4,000  students.  At  the  close  of  the  college  year  an 
organization  similar  to  the  one  in  New  York  was  per- 
fected in  Philadelphia. 

III.      STUDEXT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT  FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS- 

The  student  "^^olunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, which  started  at  the  Summer  School  at  Mt.  Her- 
mon  three  3^ears  ago,  has  had  a  remarkable  development. 
During  the  first  two  years  of  its  history  little  was  done 
in  the  direction  of  making  the  movement  permanent. 
The  last  year  may  be  characterized  as  the  year  in  which 
the  movement  has  been  organized.  Mr.  Eobert  P.  Wil- 
der, who  has  been  so  intimateh^  identified  with  the  in- 
ception and  extension  of  this  great  movement,  has  given 


14  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

the  entire  year  to  thoroughly  organizing  it  as  a  depart- 
ment of  the  College  Associations.  Over  fifty  independ- 
ent Missionary  Societies  have  been  merged  into  the 
Association,  thus  insuring  the  permanency  and  wider 
extension  of  the  missionary  interest.  He  has  directly 
touched  over  ninety  of  the  pivotal  colleges  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  besides  reaching  many  others 
thi'oiigh  Conferences  and  State  Conventions.  Forty- 
nine  institutions — principally  colleges — have  been  led 
to  undertake  the  support  of  a  missionary.  Several  of 
them  have  already  selected  alumni  to  represent  them 
on  the  foreign  field.  In  addition  to  the  work  of  organ- 
izing, Mr.  Wilder  has  extended  the  movement  to  several 
new  colleges  and  added  about  GOO  to  the  volunteer  force. 
Fifty-six  more  volunteers  were  secured  at  the  recent 
JSTorthfield  meeting.  Tliis  makes  the  total  recorded 
number  of  volunteers  at  this  time  (Sept.  1,)  3,947.  The 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  is  treated  more  fully  else- 
where in  this  volume. 

IV.      SPECIAL  REVIVAL  INTEREST  IN  AMERICAN  COLLEGES. 

In  Canada,  and  New  England  and  the  Middle  States, 
in  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley,  and  notably  at  the 
West  and  Southwest,  there  have  been  unusual  revivals 
of  religion  in  the  colleges.  Only  a  few  can  be  mentioned. 
Acadia  College  in  Nova  Scotia,  having  240  students, 
had  the  most  wide-SAveeping  revival  in  its  history,  re- 
sulting practically  in  the  conversion  of  every  uncon- 
verted man  in  the  college.  The  Harvard  Association 
reports  its  first  convert.  The  New  England  College 
Conference,  held  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  February, 
stimulated  revivals  in  both  of  the  colleges  of  that  city. 
Cornell  University  has  had  the  first  revival  in  its  his- 
tory— in  which  over  a  score  of  students  were  brought 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  15 

to  Christ.  At  Webb's  School,  Tennessee,  during  the 
Week  of  Prayer,  fully  seventy  young  men  were  led  to 
Christ  by  the  ijersonal  work  of  their  class-mates.  The 
most  remarkable  revival  of  the  year  started  at  the 
State  University  of  Tennessee,  in  connection  with  the 
College  Conference  of  East  Tennessee  which  was  held 
at  the  University.  Over  forty  of  the  leading  students 
of  that  University  confessed  Christ  within  two  days. 
The  revival  did  not  cease  at  that  point.  Delegates  were 
present  from  five  other  colleges  in  East  Tennessee.  Two 
of  them  went  back  to  Tusculum  College  and  within  a 
few  daj's  reported  fifteen  converts.  One  delegate  car- 
ried the  spirit  of  revival  to  Washington  College,  and 
twenty  converts  w^ere  the  result.  The  Maryville  Col- 
lege delegation  returned  to  their  college  on  fire  with 
the  evangelistic  spirit,  and  soon  the  report  came  that 
over  fifty  of  their  fellow^s  had  been  brought  to  Chi'ist. 

Mr.  S.  M.  Sayford  has  devoted  the  entire  year  to  evan- 
gelistic vv^ork  in  the  colleges.  In  that  time  he  has  been 
able  to  do  thorough  work  in  over  twenty  institutions. 
At  least  250  unconverted  students  and  professors  have 
been  reached.  His  strongest  work  was  at  the  University 
of  Virginia  and  in  the  tw^o  colleges  at  Lexington,  Ya. 
]S^early  one  hundred  men  were  converted  in  these  three 
institutions  alone.  But  Mr.  Sayford's  best  work  was 
among  the  so-called  Christian  students.  In  aiming  at 
this  class  he  struck  at  the  very  source  of  much  of  the 
indifference  concerning  religious  things  which  prevailed 
in  many  colleges.  Over  one  thousand  of  these  students 
were  led  to  take  the  "  higher  ground  stand  " — to  give 
up  indulgences  which  w^ere  robbing  them  of  their  influ- 
ence and  power. 

At  no  time  in  the  history  of  American  colleges  have 
they  been  pervaded  by  as  strong  a  Christian  spirit  as 


IB  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

they  give  evidence  of  to-day.  In  the  State  Universities, 
in  which,  if  anywhere,  we  should  expect  to  find  a  lack 
of  interest  in  religions  things,  we  find  the  most  active 
Christian  Associations.  The  largest  College  Association 
in  the  world,  having  over  500  members,  is  situated  in 
an  undenominational  university,  which,  four  years 
ago,  was  characterized  throughout  the  country  as  a 
godless  institution.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  young  men 
in  our  colleges  to-day  are  professing  Christians.  At 
what  previous  time  could  this  be  said  of  our  colleges 
as  a  whole? 

Notwithstanding  these  encouraging  signs  showing 
"  what  God  hath  wrought "  during  the  past  year,  the 
members  of  the  Associations,  together  with  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  progress  of  the  Christian  religion 
among  the  students  of  the  world,  should  not  lose  sight 
of  the  fact  that  there  are  still  in  America,  at  the  lowest 
estimate,  over  eight  hundred  higher  institutions  of 
learning  in  which  there  is  no  organized  religious  work. 
From  these  institutions  during  the  last  year  alone  have 
gone  15,000  unconverted  men.  Let  unceasing  efiforts 
and  prayers  be  offered,  and  money  consecrated  to  this 
great  end;  that,  during  the  coming  year,  many  of  these 
neglected  fields  may  be  cultivated,  that  more  students 
may  be  brought  to  Christ  than  in  any  preceding  year, 
and  that  thousands  of  the  best  young  men  of  America 
may  graduate  from  her  colleges  to  spend  their  lives 
for  Grod  in  the  ministry,  in  the  General  Secretaryship 
or  as  active  laymen — ^both  at  home  and  abroaxi. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  STUDENT  MISSIONARY  UPRISING. 

A  History  by  One  of  the  Volunteers  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
for  Forei^  Missions— Its  Origin  at  Mt.  Hermon— Its  Extension 
by  Messrs.  "Wilder  and  Forman— Its  Organization  Perfected  Dur- 
ing the  past  year— Its  Watch  cry:  ''The  Evangelization  of  the 
"World  in  This  Generation." 

One  of  the  gi'eatest  missionary  revivals  since  the  days 
of  the  apostles  had  its  beginning  in  July,  1886,  at  the 
Mt.  Hermon  Conference  of  college  students.  Two  hun- 
tked  and  fifty-one  students  from  eighty-nine  colleges  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  had  come  together  at  the 
invitation  of  Mr.  Moody  to  spend  four  weelvs  in  Bible 
study.  Nearly  two  weeks  passed  by  before  the  subject 
of  missions  was  even  mentioned  in  the  sessions  of  the 
conference.  But  one  of  the  young  men  from  the  Prince- 
ton College  had  come  after  Aveeks  of  prayer  with  the 
deep  conviction  that  God  -would  call  from  that  large 
gathering  of  college  men,  a  few,  at  least,  who  would  con- 
secrate themselves  to  the  foreign  mission  service.  At 
an  early  day  he  called  together  all  the  young  men  who 
were  thinking  seriously  of  spending  their  lives  in  the 
foreign  field.  Twenty-one  students  answered  to  this 
call,  although  several  of  them  had  not  definitely  decided 
the  question. 

This  little  group  of  consecrated  men  began  to  pray 
that  the  spirit  of  missions  might  pervade  the  confer- 
ence, and  that  the  Lord  would  separate  many  men  to 
this  gTeat  work.  In  a  few  days,  they  were  to  see  their 
faith  rewarded  far  more  than  they  had  dared  to  claim. 

On  the  evening  of  July  16th.,  a  special  mass  meeting 
was  held  at  which  Eev.  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson  gave  a  thrill- 

17 


18  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

ing  addi^ess  on  missions.  He  supported,  by  the  most 
convincing  arguments,  the  proposition  that  "All  should 
go  and  go  to  all."  This  was  the  key  note  which  set  many 
men  to  thinking  and  praying.  A  week  passed.  On  Sat- 
urday night,  July  24,  another  meeting  was  held  which 
may  occupy  as  significant  a  place  in  the  history  of  tlie 
Christian  church  as  the  Williams  hay  stack  scene.  It 
is  known  as  the  "Meeting  of  the  Ten  Nations."  It 
was  addressed  by  sons  of  missionaries  in  China,  India 
and  Persia  and  by  seven  young  men  of  different  na- 
tionalities— an  American,  a  Japanese,  a  Siameise,  a  Ger- 
man, a  Dane,  a  Norwegian  and  an  American  Indian. 
The  addi-esses  were  not  each  more  than  three  minutes  in 
length,  and  consisted  of  appeals  for  more  workers. 
Near  the  close,  each  speaker  repeated  in  the  language 
of  his  country  the  words — "  God  is  Love."  Then  came 
a  season  of  silent  and  audible  prayer  which  will  never 
be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  present.  The  burning- 
appeals  of  this  meeting  came  with  peculiar  force  to  all. 

From  this,  right  on  till  the  close  of  the  conference,  the 
missionary  interest  became  more  and  more  intense. 
One  by  one,  the  men  alone  in  the  Avoods  and  rooms  with 
their  Bibles  and  God  fought  out  the  battle  with  self  and 
were  led  by  the  Si)irit  to  decide  to  forsake  all  and  carry 
the  gospel  into  the  furthermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

Dr.  Ashmore,  who  had  just  returned  from  China, 
added  fuel  to  the  flame  by  his  ringing  appeal  to  Chris- 
tians to  look  upon  "missions  as  a  war  of  conquest,  and 
not  as  a  mere  wrecking  expedition." 

In  the  last  consecration  meeting  in  the  parlor 
where  the  lights  were  extinguished  and  the  men  were 
left  on  their  faces  wrestling  with  God  in  prayer,  many 
a  man  said  in  answer  to  the  call  of  the  Lord:  "Here  am 
I;  send  me." 


THE  MISSIONARY  UPRISING.  19 

Only  eight  days  elapsed  between  the  "  Meeting  of  the 
Ten  Nations"  and  the  closing  session  of  the  conference. 
During  that  time,  the  number  of  volunteers  increased 
from  twenty -one  to  exactly  one  hundred,  who  signified 
that  they  were  "willing  and  desirous,  God  permitting,  to 
become  foreign  missionaries."  Several  of  the  remain- 
ing one  hundred  and  forty  delegates  became  volunteers 
later — after  months  of  study  and  prayer. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  conference,  the  volunteers  held 
a  meeting  in  which  there  was  a  unanimous  expression 
that  the  missionary  spirit  which  had  manifested  itself 
^^i:h  such  marvelous  power  at  Mt.  Hermon  should  be 
communicated  in  some  degree  to  thousands  of  students 
throughout  the  country,  who  had  not  been  privileged  to 
come  in  contact  with  it  at  its  source.  It  was  their  con- 
viction that  the  reasons,  which  had  led  the  Mt.  Hermon 
hundred  to  decide,  w^ould  influence  hundreds  of  other  col- 
lege men,  if  those  reasons  were  at  once  presented  to  them 
in  a  faithful,  intelligent  and  prayerful  manner.  Natur- 
ally they  thought  of  the  "  Cambridge  Band  "  and  its  w^on- 
derful  influence  among  the  universities  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  decided  to  adopt  a  similar  plan.  Accordingly 
a  deputation  of  four  students  was  selected  to  represent 
the  Mt.  Hermon  Conference  and  to  visit  dui'ing  the  year 
as  many  American  colleges  as  possible.  Of  the  four 
selected,  only  one  w^as  abla  to  undertake  the  mission, 
Mr.  Kobert  P.  Wilder  of  the  class  of  188(3  of  Princeton 
College.  Mr.  John  N.  Forman,  also  a  Princeton  gTadu- 
ate,  w.  s  induced  to  join  Mr.  Wilder  in  this  tour.  One 
consecrated  man,  who  has  ever  been  glad  to  help  on 
missionary  enterprises,  defrayed  the  expenses  of  this 
tour.  During  the  year,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
institutions  were  visited.  They  touched  nearly  all  of 
the  leading  colleges  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 


20  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES 

Sometimes  they  would  visit  a  college  together.  Again, 
in  order  to  reach  more  institutions,  they  would  separ- 
ate. Their  straight-forward,  forcible,  Scrijjtural  pres- 
entation came  with  coha  incing  power  to  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  students  wherever  they  went.  In  some  col- 
leges as  many  as  sixty  volunteers  were  secured.  Not  an 
institution  was  visited  in  which  they  did  not  quicken 
the  missionary  interest. 

By  the  close  of  the  year,  2,200  young  men  and  wome'U 
had  taken  the  volunteer  pledge. 

During  the  college  year  of  1887-88,  the  movement  was 
left  without  any  particular  leadership  and  oversight. 
Notwithstanding  this  fact,  it  was  so  filled  with  life  that 
it  could  not  stand  still.  Over  six  hundred  new  volun- 
teers were  added  during  the  year,  very  largely  as  the 
result  of  the  personal  work  of  the  old  volunteers. 

About  fifty  volunteers  came  together  at  the  North- 
field  Conference  in  July,  1888,  to  pray  and  plan  for  the 
movement.  When  the  reports  were  presented  showing 
the  condition  of  the  movement  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, it  was  found  that  there  were  three  dangerous  ten- 
dencies beginning  to  manifest  themselves:  (1).  A  ten- 
dency in  the  movement  at  some  points  to  lose  its  unity. 
All  sorts  of  missionary  societies  and  bands,  with  differ- 
ent purposes,  methods  of  work,  and  forms  of  pledge  and 
constitution,  were  springing  up.  It  was  plain  that  it 
would  lose  some  of  its  power,  should  its  unity  be  des- 
troyed. (2).  A  tendency  to  a  decline  in  some  of  the  col- 
leges. Because  not  properly  gniarded  and  developed, 
some  bands  of  volunteers  had  grown  cold — not  a  few  had 
been  led  to  renounce  their  decision.  (3).  A  tendency  to 
conflict  with  existing  agencies  appeared  in  a  very  few 
places.  All  of  these  tendencies  were  decidedly  out  of 
harmony  with  the  original  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  vol- 


THE  MISSIONARY  UPRISING.  21 

unteer  movement.  Accordingly,  the  yolunteers  of 
Northfield  decided  that  immediate  steps  should  be  taken 
toward  a  wise  organization.  Another  consideration 
heljjed  to  influence  them  in  this  decision,  and  that  was 
a  desire  to  extend  the  movement. 

Messrs.  Wilder  and  Forman,  in  their  tour,  had  been 
unable  to  touch  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  higher  educa- 
tional institutions  in  America.  Upon  Mr.  Wilder,  there- 
fore, was  urged,  the  importance  of  his  spending  another 
3^ear  among  the  colleges  which  he  had  previously  visited, 
and  thorough!}"  organizing  the  missionary  volunteers, 
a  work  which  was  impossible  during  his  first  visit. 

A  committee  w^as  also  appointed  to  permanent!}^  or- 
ganize the  volunteer  movement.  The  committee,  after 
long  and  prayerful  consideration,  decided  that  the  move- 
ment should  be  confined  to  students.  It  was  therefore 
named  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 
Missions.  It  was  also  noted  that  practically  all  of  the 
volunteers  were  members  of  some  one  of  the  three  great 
interdenominational  student  organizations,  viz:  the 
College  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  College 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  and  the  Inter- 
Seminary  Missionary  Alliance.  This  suggested  the 
plan  of  placing  at  the  head  of  the  movement,  a  perman- 
ent executive  committee  of  three,  (one  to  be  appointed 
by  each  of  the  organizations)  which  should  have  power 
to  develop  and  facilitate  the  movement  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  and  constitution  of  these  three  organizations. 

The  plan  was  first  submitted  to  the  college  committee 
of  the  international  committee  of  the  Young ,  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  was  heartily  approved.  They 
appointed,  as  their  representative,  Mr.  J.  R.  Mott. 
Later  the  plan  was  fully  approved  by  the  national  com- 
mittee of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  : 


22  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

and  Miss  Nettie  Dunn  was  chosen  to  represent  them. 
The  executive  committee  of  the  Inter-Seminarj  Mis- 
sionary Alliance  endorsed  the  ])lan  and  named  Mr. 
Wilder  to  represent  them. 

The  new  executive  committee  began  its  work  in  Jan- 
uary, 1889.  Since  then  they  have  perfected  a  plan  of 
organization  for  the  movement  A\hich  has  commended 
itself  to  the  leade  s  of  the  different  denominations  to 
which  it  had  been  submitted.  The  plan  of  organization 
may  be  briefly  outlined  as  follows: — 

(1).  The  executive  committee,  shall  lay  and  execute 
plans  for  developing  the  movement  wherever  it  exists, 
and  for  extending  it  to  the  higher  educational  institu- 
tions which  have  not  yet  come  in  contact  with  it. 

(2).  The  committee  will  have  its  agents,  the  principal 
one  of  whom  will  be  the  traveling  secretary.  Mr. 
Wilder  has  filled  this  office  during  the  past  college  year 
(Sept.,  '8S-Aug.,  'S9).  During  that  time  he  visited  ninety- 
three  leading  colleges,  in  which  he  developed  the  mis- 
sionary department  of  the  college  Associations.  He 
has  also  secured  nearly  six  hundred  new  volunteers. 
In  more  than  thirty  colleges  visited,  he  has  induced  in- 
dependent missionary  organizations  to  merge  themselves 
in  the  missionary  department  of  the  college  Associa- 
tions. Another  striking  feature  of  his  work  this  year 
has  been  the  fact  that  over  forty  institutions  have  been 
led  to  undertake  the  support  of  an  alumnus  in  the  foreign 
field.  The  plan  pursued  in  denominational  colleges 
has  been  to  have  the  man  sent  by  the  regular  church 
boards;  in  undenominational  colleges,  the  money  is  usu- 
ally contributed  to  some  form  of  undenominational 
effort — as,  for  example,  sending  teachers  to  the  govern- 
ment schools  of  Japan. 

As  Mr.  Wilder  retires  from  his  position  to  complete 


THE  MISSIONARY  UPRISING.  23 

liis  seminary  course,  preparatory  to  going  out  to  India,  it 
is  no  more  than  justice  to  state  that  lie  has  done  moi*e 
tlian  any  one  man  to  extend  this  great  movement  from 
its  very  inception  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  R.  E.  Speer 
of  the  class  of  1889  of  Princeton  College  has  been  chosen 
to  succeed  Mr.  AVilder. 

Mr.  Speer  has  been  one  of  the  most  active  volunteers 
in  the  country.  Besides  being  a  thoroughly  consecrated 
man,  he  was  the  leading  scholar  and  debater  in  his  col- 
lege class. 

The  committee  will  also  have  an  office  secretary  and 
an  editorial  secretary. 

(3).  There  is  an  advisory  committee  composed  of 
seven  persons — ^five  representing  as  many  of  the  leading 
evangelical  denominations  and  one  each  froon  the  Young 
Men's  and  Y^oung  Women's  Christian  Associations. 

The  executive  committee  is  to  confer  w^ith  this  com- 
mittee about  every  new  step  which  is  taken,  so  that 
nothing  will  be  done  which  will  justify  unfavorable  criti- 
cism from  the  church  boards.  The  movement  is  de- 
signed to  help  the  church  boards  in  every  way  possible, 
and  in  no  sense  to  encroach  upon  their  territor^^  or  to 
conflict  with  their  work. 

(4).  Mr.  Speer  will  be  unable  to  visit  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  colleges  next  jeav.  It  w^as  therefore  plain 
that  some  other  means  must  be  devised  in  order  to  bring 
the  other  colleges  in  touch  with  this  movement.  The 
executive  committee  has  accordingly  decided  to  have  a 
corresponding  member  in  every  state  and  province  in 
which  the  movement  has  been  sufficiently  introduced 
and  established  to  ensure  its  permanency.  This  corres- 
ponding member  will  be  the  agent  of  the  executive 
committee  in  that  state  to  conserve  and  extend  the  move- 
ment in  that  state. 


24  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

The  traveling  secretary  will  touch  onlj^  the  leading 
colleges  in  each  state.  In  states  where  it  is  thought 
to  be  advisable  there  will  be  a  corresponding  com- 
mittee instead  of  a  corresponding  member.  The  states 
of  Maine,  New  Jersey  and  North  Carolina  were  organ- 
ized on  this  plan  last  year  and  a  strong  work  was  done 
in  each  of  them ;  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Vir- 
ginia and  Kansas  will  be  organized  this  year.  The  worlc 
in  a  state  consists,  not  only  in  arousing  more  mission- 
ary interest  in  the  colleges  and  seminaries,  but  also  in 
quickening  the  missionary  spirit  in  the  churches  by 
means  of  visits  from  volunteers.  Volunteers  who  have 
the  time  and  fitness  for  such  work,  spend  all  or  a  part  of 
their  vacations  in  assisting  churches.  In  this  way 
the  conti-ibutions  of  many  of  the  churches  have  been  in- 
creased. One  volunteer,  in  less  than  a  month,  influenced 
a  number  of  churches  to  contribute  over  |5,000  to  mis- 
sions, over  and  above  what  they  were  already  giving 
to  that  cause.  This  work  is  attempted  only  where  the 
full  approval  of  the  church  is  previously  obtained  and 
has  always  been  highly  endorsed  by  the  pasitors  of  the 
different  denominations.  A  young  man  who  is  actually 
going  into  the  foreign  field  has  a  peculiar  influence  over 
a  congregation. 

(5).  In  the  colleges  the  movement  is  simply  the  mis- 
sionary department  of  the  College  Young  Men's  Christ- 
ian Association.  The  reasons  for  this  are  clear.  It 
will  ensure  the  permanency  of  the  missionary  inter- 
est in  the  college  by  placing  it  under  the  direction 
of  an  organization,  which  from  its  very  nature  is  des- 
tined to  ba  permanent  as  long  as  the  college  exists. 
This  cannot  be  said  always  of  independent  missionary 
societies.  Moreover  by  making  it  a  departmant  of  the 
Association  it  will  have  a  far  wider  constituency  and 


THE  ^IISSIONA^Y  UPRISING.  25 

basis  of  support,  becaaise  the  Association  includes 
students  who  are  interested  in  five  or  six  distinct  lines 
of  work  and  not  simply  in  one.  Experience  has  abund- 
antly proved  that  this  is  the  best  plan.  In  more  than 
sixty  colleges  during  the  last  two  years  independent 
missionary  societies  have  been  merged  into  the  Asso- 
ciations, and  not  one  of  them  has  changed  back  to  the 
old  plan.  The  chairman  of  the  missionary  department 
of  the  Association  should,  where  possible,  be  a  volun- 
teer. The  movement  has  far  outgrown  the  early  expec- 
tations of  its  nearest  friends.  Even  Dr.  Pierson  and 
Mr.  Wilder  at  its  incei3tion  could  not  claim  over  one 
thousand  volunteers  in  the  American  colleges.  To- 
day, there  are  recoided  3,947  volunteers  ready,  or  pre- 
paring, to  preach  "the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ'' 
in  every  land  under  the  sun.  A  very  large  majority  of 
them  are  still  in  the  different  college  classes.  Prob- 
ably not  more  than  five  hundred  have  reached  the  sem- 
inaries, medical  colleges  and  other  schools  for  special 
training.  Between  one  and  two  hundred  have  actually 
sailed  for  foreign  lands.  AYell  may  Dr.  McCosh  ask: 
"  Has  any  such  offering  of  living  young  men  and  Avomen 
been  presented  in  our  age?  in  our  country?  in  any  age 
or  in  any  country  since  the  day  of  Pentecost?''  To- 
day, after  over  one  hundi^ed  jears  of  Protestant  mis- 
sionary effort,  there  are  only  about  60,000  ordained  mis- 
sionaries in  the  foreign  field.  If  the  church  does  not 
send  out  but  one  half  of  the  present  number  of  volun- 
teers, it  will  still  mark  the  most  significant  and  en- 
couraging chapter  in  the  annals  of  tlie  Christian  church 
since  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  But  every  one  of  the 
3,947  volunteers  is  needed,  and  many  more.  Mr.  Wish- 
ard  writes  back  from  Japan  that  20,000  native  and  for- 
eign ministers  are  needed  in  that  fast-nioving  empire 


26  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

before  the  year  1900  in  order  to  keep  it  from  infidel- 
ity. Dr.  Olramljeilain  appeals  for  5,000  missionaries 
for  India  during  this  century.  ^'  The  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation  "  is  the  watch-cry  of  the 
Stndent  Yolnnteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions. 
What  does  this  mean  ?  At  a  convocation  of  mission- 
aries held  a  few  months  ago  in  India,  it  was  estimated 
that,  at  least,  one  foreign  missionary  was  needed  for 
every  50,000  people  in  nnevangelized  lands,  and  one  na- 
tive missionary  for  every  5,000.  This  is  regarded  as  a 
very  conservative  estimate.  It  means,  then,  that  at 
least  20,000  foreign  missionaries  are  needed  in  order  to 
"  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  "  within  this  gen- 
eration. Is  this  too  much  to  ask  and  expect?  Already 
nearly  4,000  have  volunteered  in  less  than  two  hundred 
colleges.  From  these  same  colleges  during  this  gen- 
eration will  pass  over  a  score  of  classes  to  be  touched 
by  this  movement  before  they  graduate.  There  are 
hundreds  of  colleges  which  have  not  yet  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  come  in  contact  w^ith  this  movement.  The 
colleges  of  the  South,  of  far  West  and  of  the  mari- 
time provinces  know  almost  nothing  about  it.  There 
are  two  hundred  medical  colleges  and  schools  in  America 
from  which  are  going  annually  thousands  of  graduates. 
Mneteen-twentieths  of  those  graduates  are  locating  in 
this  country  where  there  is  one  physician  to  every  GOO 
of  the  population,  whereas  in  nnevangelized  land's  there 
is  not  more  than  one  medical  missionary  to  every 
1,000,000  of  the  population.  Are  20,000  volunteers  too 
many  to  ask  and  expect  from  this  generation  ?  Over 
2,000,000  young  men  and  women  will  go  out  from  our 
higher  institutions  of  learning  within  this  generation. 
The  foreign  field  calls  for  only  one  one-hundredth  of 
them.    But  where  will  the  money  come  from  to  send  and- 


THE  MISSIONARY  UPRISING.  27 

support  them?  It  would  take  ouly  one  six-hundredth 
of  the  present  wealth  of  the  members  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  America  and  England.  There  are  men 
enough  to  spare  for  this  grandest  mission  of  the  ages. 
There  is  money  enough  to  spare  to  send  them.  May  the 
spirit  of  Christ  lead  his  church  to  consecrate  her  men 
and  money  to  the  carrying  out  of  his  last  command! 


CHAPTER  III. 

NORTHFIELD    REVISITED. 

Resume  and  description  of  the  Conference  by  Mr.  C.  K.  Ober— Plan  of 
Organization— Daily  Program  of  the  Conference— Special  Associa- 
tion Meetings— Pen  Portraits  of  Speakers— Volunteer  ]\Iovement 
and  Bible  Classes— The  Fourth  at  Northfield. 

In  repoiise  to  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Moody,  the  stu- 
dents assembled  for  their  Fourth  Annual  Conference  at 
Northfield  on  Saturday,  June  29,  1889,  and  remained 
through  Wednesday,  July  10.  The  widening  influ- 
ence of  this  gathering  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
students  and  the  colleges  they  represented  putnum- 
bered  those  of  previous  years.  Instead  of  three  insti- 
stutions  a  year  ago,  six  of  the  leading  universities  of 
Great  Britain  sent  delegates,  and  the  ninety  American 
Colleges  of  '88  increased  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  in 
'89,  Ireland,  Arkansas  and  Georgia  responding  for  the 
first  time. 

The  Conference  was  better  planned,  organized  and 
manned  than  ever  before.  The  plan  of  organization 
was  simple  and  the  service  rendered  entirely  voluntary. 
Mr.  Moody  as  presiding  officer;  C.  K.  Ober,  J.  E.  Mott 
and  F.  K.  Sanders,  Executive  Committee;  F.  W.  Ober, 
General  Manager  ;  S.  G.  McConaughy,  G.  A.  War- 
burton,  Chairman  of  Transportation  Committee;  C. 
H.  Potter,  Chairman  of  Eeception  Committee;  S.  W. 
Sturgis,  Chairman  of  Finance  Committee;  E.  F.  See, 
Chairman  of  Association  Topic  Committee ;  A.  A. 
Stagg,  Chairman  of  Athletic  Committee;  E.  E.  Speer, 
Chairman  of  Missionary  Committee ;  James  McCon- 
aughy,  Chairman  of  Bible  Study  Committee  ^  and 
the  members  of  these  various  committees,  each  serv- 

28 


NOETHFIELD  REVISITED.  29 

ing  without  compensation,  contributed  toward  mak- 
ing tliis  Conference  successful  beyond  precedent.  The 
labor  pei'fo3'med  by  some  of  these  was  necessarily  very 
burdensome,  and  deserves  special  commendation,  but 
each  has  doubtless  received  his  reward  and  will  con- 
tinue to  .  receive  it  in  the  accumulating  evidence  of 
good  accomplished  by  the  Conference.  The  special 
features  of  the  Conference  were  : 

1.  The  maiii  sessions  in  Stone  Hall  at  10  A.M.  and 
8  IVM.,  with  addresses  from  Mr.  Moody  and  the  other 
prominent  speakers,  at  all  of  which  Mr.  Moody  presided. 

2.  The  morning  Conference  in  Stone  Hall  conducted 
by  International  Secretaries  Ober  and  Mott,  from  8:15 
to  9:05  A.M.,  in  which  were  considered  the  different 
departments  of  work  carried  on  by  the  College  Associ- 
ations. 

3.  The  two  Bible  Classes  in  separate  tents  between 
Marquand  and  Stone  Hall,  from  9 :15  to  10 :05  A.M.,  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  James  McConaughy  and  Mr.  F.  K.  San- 
ders, illustrating  two  distinct  methods  of  Bible  study. 
These  were  designed  chiefly  for  the  training  of  leaders 
for  the  conduct  of  similar  classes  in  their  respective 
colleges. 

4.  The  Association  Meetings,  held  in  the  tent  nearest 
Stone  Hall  five  evenings,  from  6:50  to  7:50,  and  during 
one  morning  session  in  Stone  Hall,  in  charge  of  Mr.  E. 
F.  See.  In  these  were  given  an  outline  presentation  of 
the  comprehensive  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  of  which  the  College  work  is  a  department, 
and  also  a  statement  of  the  claims  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  on  coUege  graduates,  as  commit- 
tee men,  as  general  secretaries  and  as  gymnasium 
instructors.  The  course  of  training  for  the  Associa- 
tion work  provided  for  college  graduates  at  the  Si)ring- 


30  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

field  School  was  considered  and  also  the  responsibility 
of  the  American  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  for 
the  young  men  of  unevangelized  lands. 

5.  The  meetings  of  the  students  volunteers  for  For- 
eign Missions,  on  the  "  round  hill  back  of  Mr.  Moody's 
house,"  from  6:50  to  7:50  P.M.  on  evenings  not  occu- 
pied by  the  Association  mjeetings  just  mentioned. 
These  were  in  charge  of  the  Missionary  Committee,  of 
which  E.  E.  Speer,  of  Princeton,  '89,  was  chairman,  and 
will  be  treated  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

6.  The  Athletics  which  held  sway  during  the  week 
day  afternoons  under  the  direction  of  '^  Stagg  of  Yale," 
with  sixteen  tennis  courts,  two  ball  fields,  and  a  swim- 
ming wharf.  An  efficient  life-saving  service  at  the  river 
with  boats,  ropes  and  life  preservers,  was  in  daily 
attendance,  and  the  hours  for  bathing  were  limited  to 
from  3  to  6  P.M. 

7.  The  presence  of  the  foreign  delegation  of  thirty- 
six  men,  fourteen  representing  six  British  Universities 
and  twenty  two  from  Japan. 

8.  The  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  about  as  describ- 
able  as  an  explosion  of  dynamite  and  equally  effective. 

The  speakers  at  the  main  sessions  of  the  Conference, 
though  differing  widely  in  their  individuality,  training, 
denominational  preferences,  and  residence,  yet,  in  the 
great  truths  of  evangelical  Christianity,  which  alone 
were  considered  at  Northfleld,  were  "of  one  heart  and 
one  mind."  To  one  whose  Christian  horizon  had  been  at 
all  circumscribed,  this  unity  in  diversity  was  a  striking 
and  instructive  object  lesson.  Mr.  Moody  with  his 
inimitable  leadeiship,  tact  and  naturalness,  gave  lifii 
and  power  to  every  session ;  and  in  his  addresses  on 
Prayer,  Grace,  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  his  practical  talks 
on  Christian  Work,  left  no  one  to  wonder  at  the  success 


NORTHFIELD  REVISITED.  31 

with  which  God  has  so  richly  crowned  his  life  service. 
Dr.  Driver  came  before  the  Conference  like  a  gladiator, 
accustomed    to    the    arena.    His    masterly    addresses 
made  a  deep  impression,  and  his  wit,  logic  and  elo- 
quence made  him  a  general  favorite.    The  Bible  in  his 
hand  and  on  his  lips  seemed  to  be  illuminated,  and 
many    students'    note-books    contained    new    thoughts 
from  him  on  not  a  few  passages  formerly  difficult  and 
''hard  to  be  understood."    Bishop  Foss,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  presented  the  strong  positive 
truths  of  experimental  Christianity,  facts  and  not  theo- 
I'ies,  religion  rather  than  philosophy.  The  tone  of  his  ad- 
dresses was  manly,  spiritual  and  practical.    The  very 
presence  of  the  Bishop  of  Huron,  the  Eight  EeA^  M. 
E.  Baldwin,  was  in  itself  a  benediction.    Representing 
the  Church  of  England  on  its  most  spiritual  and  aggres- 
sive side,  he  magnihed  the  necessity  of  a  life  conse- 
crated to  Christ  and  conformed  to  his  likeness,  and 
clearly  showed  that  to  attain  this  "we  must  be  endued 
with  i:>ower  from  on  high."    The  South  gave  a  large 
contribution  to  the   Conference  through   its  eloquent 
representative.  Dr.  Hoge,  of  Riclimond,  \^a.    Who  of  us 
can  forget  his  first  sermon  on  "  Service,"  or  his  address 
on  "The  Truth  in  Christ?  "    Simple  and  direct  in  style, 
a  master   in  platform   speaking,   his   utterances   were 
pithy  sentences  and  often  full  of  deep  feeling.    Dr. 
A.  J.  Gordon,  of  Boston,  impressed  the  students  as  a 
strong  man  armed,  like  one  of  David's  mighty  men, 
hving  not  for  himself  and  speaking  not  of  himself,  but 
"of  the  things  he  had  made  touching  the  King."    The 
wide  research  and  eminent  scholarship  of  Prof.  W.  R. 
Harper,  of  Yale,  threw  a  new  light  on  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecies,  and  w^ere  also  very  suggestive  of  the 
thorough  and  critical  method  of  Bible  study,  of  which  he 


32  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

is  so  able  an  advocate.  Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson  clearly 
and  incisively  pointed  out  the  hosts  of  the  enemy,  and 
sounded  the  charge  like  a  trumpet.  Other  speakers 
were  present  and  delivered  single  addresses  during 
these  sessions.  Mr.  Eussel  Sturgis,  Jr.,  of  Boston, 
read  a  strong  paper  on  "The  Bible  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association:"  Mr.  George  C.  Needham,  the 
well  known  evangelist,  gave  a  Bible  reading ;  Kev.  C. 
H.  Spurgeon,  Jr.,  of  London,  gave  a  very  ingenious 
address  on  "Nails."  Three  addresses  were  given  on  the 
Avork  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association ;  by  Wm. 
Blaikie,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  author  of  the  famous 
book  "How  to  Get  Strong,"  who  delivered  h*is  powerful 
lecture  on  the  care  of  the  body;  by  Mr.  David  McCon- 
aughy,  Jr.,  Avho  has  resigned  his  position  as  General 
Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  in  Philadelphia,  and 
sails  in  the  Fall  to  his  chosen  work  among  the  young 
men  of  India ;  by  Mr.  n.  F.  Williams,  secretary  of  the 
International  Committee  for  work  among  railroad  men, 
and  Hon.  Cephas  Brainerd,  of  New  York,  for  twenty- 
three  3^ears  the  chairman  of  the  International  Com- 
ndttee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of 
America.  President  F.  L.  Patton,  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, announced  as  one  of  the  speakers  and  expected 
at  the  closing  sessions  of  the  Conference,  was  de- 
tained by  sickness.  It  is  due  Dr.  Patton  to  state  that 
he  telegraphed  Mr.  Moody  as  soon  as  it  was  evident  to 
him  that  he  could  not  meet  his  engagement,  but  the 
telegram  did  not  reach  its  destination  until  after  the 
Conference  had  adjourned. 

The  singing  of  the  Conference,  as  at  the  three  former 
gatherings,  Avas  conducted  by  Prof.  D.  B.  Towner, 
assisted  by  his  wife.  Mr.  Sankey  by  request  gave  an 
occasional  solo. 


NORTHFIELD  REVISITED.  33 

The  morning  Conference  on  the  College  Association 
work,  gave  to  the  representatives  of  each  College  the 
results  of  the  combined  experience  of  all  the  others  in 
effective  organization  and  practical  methods  of  associ- 
ated Christian  work.  There  were  nine  such  confer- 
ences held  of  fifty  minutes  each,  one  of  which  was  given 
to  the  work  in  the  British  Universities  as  reported  by 
their  delegates.  These  meetings  were  of  inestimable 
value  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  the  colleges.  His- 
tory will  repeat  itself,  and  delegates  returning  to  their 
college  from  this  Conference  will  become  authorities  in 
their  respective  institutions  regarding  these  vital  ques- 
tions of  co-operation  in  Christian  work.  New  students 
wiU  receive  a  more  prompt  and  cordial  welcome,  and 
the  Christian  men  among  them  Avill  be  more  speedily 
and  intelligently  assimilated  into  the  working  force 
of  the  College  Association.  Having  learned  at  North- 
field  how  to  better  organize  the  committee  work^  the 
excuse  "because  no  man  hath  hired  us,"  will  keep 
fewer  laborers  out  of  the  Association  vineyard.  The 
Association  meeting  will  be  made  more  than  ever  the 
focal  point  in  the  Christian  work  of  the  college,  will 
be  better  planned,  receive  better  preparation,  be  better 
sustained  and  followed  up  and  from  it  will  radiate 
influences  that  will  transform  the  college.  The  college 
association  home  will  receive  more  attention,  rooms 
will  be  set  apart  for  Association  uses,  furnished  even 
more  attractively  than  the  literary  society  halls  and 
substantial  and  beautiful  buildings  will  be  designed 
and  erected  expressly  for  the  College  Association  work 
and  as  its  permanent  home.  The  Christian  men  in 
College  will  ai)preciate  more  fully  and  co-operate  more 
actively  and  intelligently  in  maintaining  helpful  inter- 
collegiate relations  with  the  organized  Christian  work 


34  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

and  workers  of  other  colleges,  in  conventions,  by  inter- 
visitation,  and  through  correspondence;  by  keeping 
themselves  informed  abont,  and  remembering  to 
pray  for  the  work  of  the  College  Secretaries  in  their 
tours  of  visitation  among  the  colleges  ;  and  by  per- 
sonally subscribing  for,  reading  and  recommending  "The 
Intercollegian."  They  Avill  not  forget  also  that  the 
spirit  of  missions  is  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  the  mis- 
sionary department,  with  its  missionary  committee  and 
regular  missionary  meeting,  will  be  given  a  prominent 
place  in  the  program  of  their  particular  college  As- 
sociation. 

As  the  substance  of  the  Association  meetings  is  given 
in  a  chapter  by  itself,  and  another  chapter  is  also  devot- 
ed to  the  Student  Yolunteer  Movement,  further  refer- 
ence to  these  will  not  be  necessary.  One  of  the  most 
helpful  features  of  the  entire  Conference  and  one 
that  will  bear  substantial  fruit  during  the  coming  col- 
lege year  was  the  two  Bible  classes  held  in  the  tents 
each  week  day  morning  just  preceding  the  morning 
session  in  Stone  Hall.  The  imi)ortance  of  systematic 
Bible  study  in  college  and  its  relation  to  Christian 
life  and  service  has  been  recognized  from  the  first  by 
the  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and 
much  good  work  has  been  done  in  this  direction  during 
the  past  twelve  years.  The  great  need,  however,  has 
been  that  of  trained  leaders  among  the  students  them- 
selves. It  was  to  help  meet  this  need  that  these  nor- 
mal Bible  classes  were  provided.  Mr.  James  McCon- 
aughy.  General  Secretary  of  the  Twenty-third  Street 
Branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
New  York  City,  conducted  the  Bible  Training  Class, 
the  direct  object  of  which  is  to  train  its  members 
to  personally  lead  otliers  to  a   decision  for  Christ 


NORTHFIELD  REVISITED.  35 

through  an  intelligent  and  discriminating  use  of  the 
Bible. 

The  class  in  Inductive  Bible  Study  was  conducted 
by  Mr.  F.  K.  Sanders,  Ph.D.,  who  is  associated 
with  Prof.  Wm.  R.  Harper  at  Yale  University. 
The  object  of  the  Inductive  Bible  Study  is  to 
train  men  to  search  the  Scrijjtures  for  the  truth  con- 
tained in  them,  recognizing  the  Bible  as  a  text  book, 
challenging  every  would-be  scholar  to  a  critical  stud}"  of 
its  contents.  In  this  age  when  infidelity  among  under- 
graduates is  caused  by  a  type  of  intellectuality  that 
ignores  the  greatest  body  of  truth  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  the  importance  of  this  method  of  Bible  study  can- 
not be  overestimated. 

A  report  of  the  Conference  would  not  be  complete 
without  reference  to  the  spontaneous  outburst  of 
national  enthusiasm  and  coUege  spirit  on  the  night  of 
July  I.  The  students  made  their  OAvn  program, 
which  was  conceived  and  arranged  within  twenty-four 
hours  by  a  representative  committee  appointed  the 
night  before.  It  was  carried  out  without  a  break,  and 
with  a  sustained  enthusiasm  probably  imequaled  by 
any  other  celebration  of  the  Nation's  birthday.  Old 
and  dignified  college  graduates  in  the  audience  grew 
young  again,  forgot  their  dignity  and  sat  with  the  boys, 
and  when  their  turn  came  stood  up  and  joined  in  the  old 
college  song  and  yelled  the  old  college  yell. 

The  national  spirit  of  the  Japanese  delegation  re- 
sponded to  the  occasion  and  claimed  a  part  in  the  pro- 
gram. Sawayama's  neat  address;  Viscount  Mis- 
hima's  song  and  sword  dance,  in  Japanese  costume  and 
illustrating  an  incident  in  Japanese  history,-  the  Jap- 
anese cheer,  and  the  subsequent  war-song,  march  and 
charge  up  the  hill  by  moonlight,  seemed  to  indicate 


36  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

that  the  bird  of  liberty,  in  his  westward  flight,  will 
certainly  find  in  Japan  a  congenial  climate. 

How  fast  the  days  seemed  to  go  by  during  the  last 
week  of  the  Conference.  They  were  momentous  days  to 
many.  "  Thy  people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy 
power."  Tlien,  in  the  day  of  their  Avillingness,  their  God 
shall  be  powerful.  This  converse  of  the  old  proposition 
was  demonstrated  by  many  of  the  students  at  Northfield. 
And  these  men  are  going  out  into  their  life  service 
with  a  power  not  theirs  by  n-aiure  nor  by  education. 
^Ve  shall  watch  them  as  they  press  far  out  into  the 
dark  and  difficult  places  with  their  glad  message ;  shall 
work  with  some  of  them  perhaps,  and  rejoice  with 
them  when  they  come  again,  bringing  their  sheaves 
home  witli  them. 


CHAPTER  rV. 

THE  CRISIS  IN  JAPAN. 

Addresses  by  Mr.  Sawayama  and  Viscount  MisMma,  Japanese  Students, 
and  Rev.  John  T.  Ise  and  Mr.  Jolm  T.  Swift,  of  Japan— Young  Men 
in  Japan— Dangers  of  Scepticism— Need  of  Educated  Workers— Con- 
version of  Japanese  Students— Tlieir  Pledge  to  the  Christian  Minis- 
try—Parent Worsliip  in  Japan— Qualifications  for  Missionaries— Jap- 
anese Public  Opinion  on  Christianity— Difficulties-Situation  in 
Tokyo— Y.  M.  C.  A.    in  Japan. 

Mr.  Y.  Sawayama,  of  Amherst  College  (class  of  '80), 
said:  Since  my  cMldliood,  I  have  been  bronglit  np  in 
school.  I  lost  my  parents  in  my  youth,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  hoarding  school  and  colleges.  The  more  I  lived 
together  with  them,  the  more  I  felt  that  I  would  spi&nd 
my  life  with  these  fellow  students.  It  seems  to  me 
that  young  men  are  always  the  factors  in  civili 
zation,  and  you  all  remember"  One  against  a  thousand;" 
this  is  true  everywhere,  in  every  time.  You  rcm^^mber 
that  Ignatius  Loyola,  tho  founder  of  the  Jesuits,  pros- 
pered in  the  16th  century.  He  began  his  work  in  the 
earl}"  part  of  that  century,  and  ended  his  life  about  the 
end  of  that  century.  He  founded  about  15  co-leges,  and 
the  itiost  prominent  men  in  Europe  w?re  the  Jesuits. 
How  did  they  get  such  a  high  office  and  such  an  influence 
in  that  time  and  country?  They  admitted  young  men  and 
young  women,  and  began  to  get  hold  of  these  youth. 

It  seeiiis  to  me  that  this  is  true  in  this  counti-y.  I  can 
show  you  how  it  was  done  in  my  country.  You  all  re- 
member we  have  made  quite  a  stride  in  civilization,  in 
such  a  few  years.  The  prominent  men  in  the  govern- 
ment move  everything  to-day  in  1113^  country.  But  just  25 
years  ago,  they  were  mere  s indents  and  soldiers:  they 
were   studying  under   prominent  teachers,   and   were 

37 


38  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

taught  Chinese  morals.  Those  teachers  got  hold  of  these 
youth,  so  that  they  began  to  teach  the  same  methods  of 
doctrine  when  Ihey  got  hold  of  the  government.  But 
at  the  same  time  these  men  were  influenced  by  European 
and  scepti.al  principles.  To-day  we  have  young 
men;  we  expect  that  they  will  do  something  in  the  fu- 
ture; we  need  to  get  hold  of  these  young  men,  but  what 
can  we  do  Avith  them  ?  Peihaps  you  liave  met  sonje 
Japanese  youth  in  this  country,  and  may  think  them 
all  the  same  sort  of  fellows.  But  I  doubt  it.  I  have  met 
young  men  in  this  country,  and  I  have  been  far  West 
and  East.  Some  of  them  are  good  Christians,  and  some 
are  not.  So  that  you  cannot  imagine  that  all  Japanese 
are  the  same  sort  of  fellows.  We  have  different  sorts 
of  young  fellows,  but  some  of  thean  have  a  keen  sight, 
and  easily  get  hold  of  social  scepticism.  This  is  a  ter- 
ror to  us.  I  think  it  is  a  terror  in  this  country.  These 
ideas  have  been  distributed  among  young  fellows,  who 
begin  to  have  the  most  degraded  tlioughts  and  ideas  cir- 
culating among  themselves. 

But  I  wish  to  draw  your  attention  to  how  you  are  sit- 
uated yourselves.  We  joung  men  who  are  here,  are 
Christians  now,  but  we  were  not  brought  up  by  Chris- 
tian parents,  we  were  not  brought  up  in  Christian  col- 
leges or  schools.  We  were  all  brought  up  by  heathen, 
by  ignorant  parents.  Though  I  have  a  great  respect 
for  my  parents,  we  are  obliged  to  say  they  were  heathen 
and  ignorant.  You  are  haj^p}^  to-day,  and  hav^e  such  a 
nice  time,  and  anything  you  Avant,  Christian  parents  and 
colleges,  and  are  well  talvcn  care  of,  and  these  parents 
and  other  men  are  doing  everything  for  you.  W^e  are 
very  grateful  that  you  sent  American  missionaries  to 
our  country,  and  have  begun  to  feel  their  humility,  and  to 
I  aspect  them  and  to  believe  after  all  in  Christianity.  We 


THE  CRISIS  IN  JAPAN.  39 

are  very  grateful  for  your  kindness,  but  at  the  same 
time  we  Avish  to  ask  more  and  more  for  your  help.  Can- 
not we  ask  a  little,  more  for  your  assistance  in  praying, 
in  finance,  in  e^ery  way  ?  Our  country  cannot  stand 
as  yours  stands.  AVe  have  to  compete  with  other  civil- 
ized nations,  and  are  obliged  to  do  everything  superfi- 
cially. 

Scepticism  is  circulating  most  among  young  people, 
in  the  couunon  schools  and  also  in  the  gymnasia  and 
universities.  It  has  been  brought  into  my  country 
through  American  and  German  and  English  professors. 
Just  imagine!  B}^  the  same  steamer,  missionaries,  rum 
and  sceptical  books  come'.  Can  we  imagine  that  the 
same  fountain  produced  bitter  water  at  the  same  time 
as  sweet?  Although  we  are  grateful  for  your  kindness, 
we  are  obliged  to  say  that  for  such  things  as  that  we  are 
not  grateful  to  you. 

You  may  say:  "'We  have  well-educated  men  in  this 
counti'3':  they  are  not  the  men  to  send  to  a  foreign  coun- 
try, but  we  have  other  men  to  send  there."  What 
kind  of  men?  You  may  call  us  heathen,  you  may  call  us 
ignorant,  but  we  need  intelligent  men  to  come  to  us. 
AVe  want  to  have  a  man  who  can  symx^athize  with  us 
in  every  way.  It  is  often  the  case  that  a  foreigner  can- 
not teach  a  native,  because  he  cannot  adapt  himself  to 
different  customs:  so  we  want  a  ma.n  who  has  been  edu- 
cat:d  all  round  in  a  college,  not  a  professional  school. 
We  want  a  man  who  can  adapt  himself  to  anything,  any 
man,  in  a  higher  as  well  as  in  a  lower  gTade. 

Do  you  think  that  the  first  missionar}^  who  was  sent 
outside  to  a  foreign  country  was  a  fisherman  or  a  car- 
penter ?  No.  He  was  known  by  the  name  of  Paul, 
who  was  a  first  class  college  man,  educated  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel.    He  excelled  in  wisdom,  and  was  brought  up 


40  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

in  strict  discipline,  and  educated  all  round,  and  adapted 
himself  to  eveiyone,  to  teaching  the  Jew  and  the 
Greek.  He  became  of  each  nation  to  win  each  nation, 
and  he  became  a  Jew  in  order  to  get  a  Jew.  So  that  1 
wish  to  say  that  we  want  a  college  man  who  will  help 
us,  and  who  can  adapt  himself,  not  by  changing  his 
dress,  etc.,  but  by  getting  to  feel  like  a  Japanese.  I 
remember  my  old  teacher  in  Doshisha,  said :  "  I  want  a 
man  who  will  live  in  Japan  and  be  naturalized  and  be 
a  Japanese  and  die  in  Japan."  If  a  man  just  wants  to 
go  to  Japan  to  see  the  manners  and  beautiful  cities,  etc., 
we  do  not  want  such  a  man  at  all. 

This  year  is  a  most  important  year:  1889  is  the 
center.nial  of  Washington's  inauguration,  but  we  cele- 
brate it  as  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  important  years 
since  2558  years  ago.  It  is  that  of  the  proclamation  of 
the  constitution  of  the  Mikado's  Empire:  and  we  have 
also  founded  a  student's  summer  school  in  Kyoto,  which 
means  a  Northfield  junior.  And  also,  Mr.  Wishard  and 
Mr.  Swift  have  already  started  a  College  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  in  Tokyo  and  Kyoto.  All  this 
movement  is  a  most  important  thing  to  remember,  and 
we  will  remember  forever  this  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant years ;  and  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  in  this  year  we  wish  to  start  everything  and 
begin  all  kinds  of  work. 

So  Ave  want  you  to  help  us,  and  you,  young  gentlemen 
in  college,  I  wish  you  would  prepare  yourselves  to  be 
foreign  n  issionaries;  not  necessarily  men  who  have 
been  educated  in  theological  seminaries,  but  men  who 
can  adapt  themselves.  I  cannot  express  it,  but  I  mean 
all  kinds  of  fellows  (You  express  it  first  rate;  we  under- 
stand you  perfectly — Mr.  Moody). 

Why  do  I  ask?    I  have  a  right  to  ask.    That  theory 


THE  CRISIS  IN  JAPAN.  41 

may  be  mistaken,  but  it  is  reasonable  to  believe,  that 
as  civilization  first  started  in  Greece,  and  afterwards 
was  transferred  West,  first  to  Kome,  then  to  France, 
then  to  England,  and  last  of  all,  came  to  the  Unite<l 
States,  you  are  now  the  transporters  of  the  Greek  civil- 
ization and  we  wish  you  to  transport  that  Christian  ele- 
ment to  our  countr3\  So  we  have  a  right  to  ask  joii  to 
help  us  as  you  are  the  transporters  and  importers  of 
civilization.  While  we  ask  you  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side  (addressing  the  British  University  men  in  the  audi- 
ence) we  emphasize  our  request  from  this  country 
which  contains  the  civilization  nearest  to  us,  but  we  still 
hope  that  civilization  will  move  to  Japan,  for  we  know 
that  Japan  is  the  connecting  link  between  the  Eastern 
and  Western  hemisi)heres.  We  have  the  right  to  claim 
the  centre  of  Christian  civilization  in  my  country. 

At  a  later  meeting  Mr.  Sawayama  said:  Since  we 
have  been  studying  here,  we  Japanese  have  met  to- 
gether once  every  day,  and  have  received  a  great  deal  of 
blessing.  AVe  wish  to  impart  what  we  have  received  to 
our  countrymen  in  this  country,  and  also  to  our  young 
men  in  my  country.  So  we  have  organized  something 
lilce  a  society,  Avith  a  committee  instructed  to  corres- 
pond with  each  member,  and  also  to  instruct  other 
young  men  in  their  colleges  to  join  with  us  and  to  visit 
Japanese  men  in  their  colleges  and  induce  them  to  study 
the  Bible  and  come  together  and  give  testimony  for 
Christ.  These  committees  are  also  instructed  to  corres- 
pond with  committees  among  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  my 
country,  so  that  we  can  impart  what  we  have  received 
here  and  shall  receive  during  the  next  yesiv  to  those  in 
my  country,  and  receive  at  the  same  time  the  blessings 
which  have  been  gi^anted  there,  esj)ecially  in  the  Con- 
ference held  in  Kyoto. 


42  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Eev.  John  T.  Ise,  of  Tokj^o,  Japan,  said:  I  will  speak 
very  largely  out  of  my  own  experience,  not  because  I 
regard  this  experience  as  peculiar,  but  because  I  regard 
it  as  a  kind  of  representative  of  the  experiences  of  most 
young  men  in  my  country.  In  1871  an  American  gentle- 
man, a  layman,  a  returned  military  officer,  who  fought  in 
the  civil  war  on  the  side  of  liberty  (see  next  chapter), 
Captain  Janes,  came  to  my  native  city,  where  according 
to  Mr.  Wishard's  letter,  he  also  has  just  been  working. 
He  came  there  by  invitation  of  the  native  prince  of  that 
province,  to  teach  English  and  the  sciences  in  the  school 
which  he  had  just  started.  We  were  then  rough,  dirty 
looking  boys,  but  we  were  able  to  see  that  he  had  in  him 
something  which  we  could  not  see  in  any  of  the  great 
men  of  the  place.  We  saw  that  he  was  a  gentleman  : 
he  was  kind  and  loving,  that  he  did  all  he  could,  not  only 
to  do  his  allotted  duty,  but  also  to  help  our  people  in 
their  indifference  to  rise  in  civilization.  Not  a  day  he 
claimed  for  himself.  He  rested  on  Sundays,  but  on 
Saturdays  he  would  come  out  to  teach  agriculture  to 
our  men,  and  to  converse  with  them  and  give  them  all 
the  information  he  had.  So  that  before  six  months 
passed,  he  won  the  hearts  of  us  boys,  and  afterwards, 
when  we  could  understand  him,  he  used  to  tell  us  that 
such  and  such  boys  had  intellectual  ability.  He  was 
intelligent  enough  to  see  in  this  rough  exterior  some 
promise  of  greatness,  strength  and  power.  And  these 
things  impressed  us.  After  two  or  three  years  had 
passed  since  he  first  arrived,  some  of  us  began  to  under- 
stand English  better:  we  could  understand  most  of 
what  he  said,  and  some  of  the  elementary  scientific 
books,  books  of  history,  etc.  One  day  I  was  told  that 
he  would  be  allowed  to  teach  Christianity  in  his  house: 
the  government  did  not  allow  him  to  teach  it  in  the 


THE  CRISIS  IN  JAPAN.  43 

schools.  He  told  us  that  lie  would  be  very  glad  to  read 
the  Bible  to  us  in  his  house.  So,  mainly  out  of  curiosity, 
we  began  to  go  to  his  house  every  Sunday  to  read  the 
Bible.  I  think  that  we  began  with  the  gospel  of  Mat- 
thew. He  read  on,  made  no  comments,  but  allowed  us  to 
go  on.  And  you  may  be  sure  he  had  difficulty  to  solve 
the  difiiculties  that  we  brought  up.  One  question  we 
could  not  understand  was  why  Christ  should  be  born  of 
a  virgin,  why  the  great  God  should  make  a  miracle  by 
the  star  in  the  East,  and  bring  those  Magi  to  Bethlehem. 
AYe  could  not  understand  w^liy  the  just  God  should  allow 
those  children  to  be  sacrificed  by  wicked  Herod.  We 
could  not  understand  why  those  devils  went  into  swine, 
and  those  herds  of  s^vine  went  headlong  into  the  sea  of 
Tiberias.  And  when  we  brought  up  those  objections, 
he  would  smile,  and  say:  "  Of  course,  never  mind:  go  on 
reading."  And  when  we  would  say,  "'I  cannot  under- 
stand that,"  sometimes  he  w^ould  look  up  to  heaven, 
and  say,  "  When  I  meet  there  my  Lord,  that  will  be  the 
first  question  I  will  ask  Him."  But  I  told  jou  that  he 
won  our  confidence,  and  so  we  went  on  reading.  And 
we  could  understand,  little  by  little,  the  greatness  of 
the  principles  he  was  speaking  of  to  us;  and,  by  the  end 
of  the  year,  some  of  us  appeared  before  the  Lord,  or 
rather,  the  Lord  appeared  before  us  in  his  majesty,  and 
power,  and  merc}^,  and  purity,  and  looked  on  us  with  a 
loving  eye,  speaking  to  us  in  that  soft  and  loving  w^aj^, 
"  Come  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved."  I  tell  you,  gentle- 
men, that  it  was  impossible  to  resist  that  appeal  from 
the  Lord.  And,  as  I  look  back  after  the  last  thirteen 
years,  I  look  on  those  days  of  revelation,  and  I  think  the 
revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  to  that  great  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  was  no  more  real  than  that  revelation  of  the 
great  Lord  to  us  boys. 


44  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

We  Japanese  boys  were  educated  young,  and  the 
effect  of  that  education  was  to  give  us  an  indomitable 
ambition  to  become  great  men.  Every  one  of  us  w^as 
going  to  become  the  prime  minister  of  Japan.  We 
talked  big  things.  But  this  man,  Captain  Janes,  said 
to  us  that  the  best  way  to  serve  the  country  was  as  a 
miner  or  faimer  or  educator,  and,  before  three  years  were 
passed,  our  ambitious  dreams  were  gone,  and  we  had 
come  to  see  it  as  he  did.  One  day,  he  said  to  us,  "■  Young 
men,  if  you  want  to  elevate  your  countrymen,  you  must 
not  stand  up  above  them  and  tell  them  of  a  higher  life. 
You  must  put  them  on  your  shoulders  and  lift  them  up." 
And  these  Avords  were  inspiring  to  us,  and,  when  w^e 
learned  of  Christ,  when  we  saw  the  great  gift  of  God  to 
our  s;)uls  by  the  gift  of  the  Son  of  God,  it  did  not  take  us 
many  days  to  consider  that  our  duty  was  to  become 
preachers.  But  we  never  saw  a  sermon  before  that 
time:  we  never  read  a  commentar}^,  we  never  said  grace 
before  our  meals,  we  were  not  baptized.  We  never  met 
a  clergyman,  but  we  wanted  to  preach  Christ,  and,  on 
that  year  Mr.  Wishard  speaks  of,  on  toj)  of  a  hill,  as 
far  distant  from  Kumamoto  as  Mount  Olivet  is  distant 
from  Jerusalem,  under  a  large  pine  tree,  we  met.  It  was 
there  in  June,  ISTG,  that  about  thirteen  of  us  solemnly 
pledged  that  we  would  devote  our  lives  to  the  preaching 
of  Christ.  I  want  to  read  to  you  a  translation  of  the 
oath.  ''We  have  mutually  studied  the  Western  relig- 
ion" (we  did  not  say,  Christianity,  because  it  was  a  word 
of  such  contempt  we  did  not  want  to  use  it),  "  and  are 
greatly  impressed  with  its  truth.  We  therefore  want 
to  spread  it  throughout  our  country  and  in  this  en- 
deavor we  will  regard  our  lives  as  but  dust  and  ashes. 
By  writing  our  several  names,  we  hereby  do  solemnly 
swear  to  the  sincerity  of  oirr  intentions."     Some  of  these 


THE  CRISIS  IN  JAPAN.  45 

young  men  have  been  placed  unclei-  the  severest  difficul- 
ties. Some  of  them  had  to  pass  tlii-ough  severer  per- 
secutions than  I,  hut  the  Lord  Avas  with  us  all,  to  stand 
by  the  side  of  many  of  us,  and. help  us.  All  being  of  this 
courage,  the  same  word  resounded  to  us,  to  some  per- 
haps not  so  distinctly,  but  no  less  really  and  i)owerfull3\ 

I  wish  to  speak  on  this  occasion  a  little  more  of  that 
solemn  day.  At  that  time,  Mr.  Moody  was  holding  great 
meetings^I  do  not  know  where,  perhaps  in  London,  per- 
haps in  New  York  or  Boston  (In  *76?  NeAV  York — Mr. 
Moody),  and  that  hymn,  "The  Ninety  and  Nine,"  ap- 
peared in  the  newspaper,  and  Captain  Janes  handed 
me  that  paper  and  I  learned  it.  It  imin'essed  me,  and 
I  took  it  as  my  text,  the  basis  of  my  address.  I  am 
ashamed  when  I  look  back  at  what  I  did,  but  I  tell  you 
it  was  done  sincereh\  I  had  before  me  hills  somewhat 
like  these  here,  and  I  pointed  to  those  hills,  where  the 
footsteps  of  the  Lord  might  have  been,  where  the  Lorvl 
might  have  traveled,  traversing  the  dales  and  hills,  and 
going  through  such  scenes  to  find  his  own.  And  that 
h^^nm  has  ever  since  taken  hold  of  me.  To  the  end  of 
my  life,  whatever  may  come,  the  Son  of  G  od  will  never 
depart  from  me,  and  I  trust  never  from  Jai>an,  till  that 
land  is  Christianized. 

I  spent  three  years  in  Kyoto,  reading  the  Bible,  and 
the  life  of  Henry  Martin  and  the  writings  of  Baxter  and 
David  Braineid  and  the  metaphysical  and  theological 
books.  In  1879  I  went  down  to  a  town  of  about  6000  in- 
habitants, and  we  started  a  church  of  a  few  members. 
In  two  years,  we  had  77  members  and  a  nice  little 
church,  entirely  self-supporting  from  the  beginning.  In 
seven  years,  we  had  370  members,  at  that  time  the  larg- 
est Protestant  church  in  Japan.  We  worked,  let  me  say, 
among  the  common  and  lower  classes.  I  had  no  ambition 


46  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

to  go  among  the  cultured  and  educated.  I  wished  to  live 
my  life  in  the  service  of  those  men  who  needed  me.  Yet  T 
Avas  seriousl}'  tempted  at  the  beginning  of  my  ministry 
by  an  intimate  friend  in  America  who  had  just  got  his 
Ph.D.  I  was  very  desirous  of  coming  here,  but  the 
sacred  bond  to  my  peojile  kept  me,  and  I  am  thankful 
for  it. 

Two  years  ago  1  went  to  Tokyo,  in  response  to  a  call 
which  came  to  me  from  men  there  who  were  going  to 
start  a  Christian  enterprise.    I  wa  s  throAvn  into  the 
midst  of  the  band  of  strong  young  men  attending  the 
Imperial  University.    There  were  about  2000  connected 
with  these  various  institutions  of  learning.    Ever^^  day 
I  had  to  pass  through  the  great  university  buildings, 
and  these  buildings  were  to  me  a  call  from  God.    I  said 
to  myself.  How  about  these  2000  young  men,  and  onl}^ 
U\o  of  the  professors  Christians  ?    Nothing  was  being 
done.    But  I  knew  that  where  there  was  a  need  there 
was  sure  to  come  a  power  from  on  high.    I  waited  on  the 
Lord;  but  every  day,  every  night,  the  burden  on  my 
heart  was,  How  can  I  reach  these  men?    I  was  ready 
to  do  anything.    I  think  I  can  say  that  I  tried  the  true 
way  by  presenting  Jesus  Christ  as  He  was  presented  to 
me,  that  is  that  Jesus  Christ  is  living  to-day,  and  He 
is  willing  to  reveal  Himself,  if  nothing  is  intercepted 
between  Him  and  the  heart  of  man.    I  jjreached  Jesus 
Christ,  I  preached  Him  before  I  preached  about  the 
Bible,  I  preached  Him  before  I  preached  about  anything 
else,  and,  with  the  Old  Testament  and  the  books  I  had, 
I  studied  up  the  subject,  and  presented  Him  as  well 
as   I   could:  that  He  was  a  real  personage;   that   He 
was  omnipresent;  that  He  was  dead  but  was  living  to- 
day.   And  I   recall  that   some   of  the   brightest  and 
best  of  those  young  men  became  Christians.    I  am 


THE  CEISIS  IN  JAPAN.  47 

convinced  that,  in  the  stronghold  of  paganism,  there 
are  men,  few  in  number,  but  the  number  is  growing, 
and  strong  in  intellect,  who  are  ready  to  believe  in  this 
Grod.  I  am  fully  convinced  that,  if  we  all  of  us,  you  and 
I,  and,  I  may  say,  Mr.  Moody,  will  do  our  duty,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  even  if  it  be  the  call  to  go  there  and 
preach  before  those  classes,  Japan  will  become  a  Chi-is- 
tian  nation. 

In  summing  up,  let  me  say  that  the  3'oung  Japanese 
are  hero  worshipers,  that  is  their  one  weakness.  People 
tell  us  that  they  are  metaphysical  and  sceptical  and  all 
that,  but  I  tell  you  that  they  are  hero  worshipers,  and 
they  must  have  something  better  than  that.  Some  will 
tell  you  that  they  are  sceptical  and  rationalists.  Yes, 
and  No.  Educated  Japanese  never  believed  in  any 
idolatry,  but  they  had  their  gods,  notwithstanding  these 
gods  were  flesh  and  blood  and  lived  beside  them.  These 
gods  were  their  king  and  their  parents.  Is  it  not  be- 
yond the  limit  of  natural  relationship  to  demand  that  we 
consecrate  our  lives  to  the  service  of  our  parents,  and 
to  give  up  our  lives  to  the  service  of  our  king,  to  give  up 
our  individuality,  and  blindly  obey  them?  But  they 
were  but  men:  too  much  men  and  women  not  to  worship 
something;  and  when  they  did  not  see  anything  in  the 
heathenish  worship,  they  turned  their  eyes  to  these 
two  objects,  and  just  devoted  their  lives  to  them.  I  call 
this  worship,  not  mere  devotion.  After  the  restoration 
and  the  activity  in  the  condition  of  civil  society,  the 
young  men  did  not  feel  that  they  could  do  this.  They 
cannot  worship  the  king,  nor  can  they  AVorshijD  the  par- 
ent. They  are  ready  to  die  for  the  country,  and  the 
Mikado,  and  the  parent,  when  necessary:  they  are  as 
loving  to  them  as  ever,  but  they  do  not  look  on  them  as 
divine^  as  objects  of  worship,  and  here  is  the  key  to  the 


48  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

solution  of  the  problem.  They  want  some  object  of 
worship:  they  are  unhappy  unless  they  consecrate  their 
lives  to  something.  They  want  to  have  some  spiritual 
devotion,  and  let  us  take  Christ  Jesus  and  present  Him 
before  them.  He  is  their  Lord  and  Master.  Let  us  try 
to  show  them  by  the  argument  of  Christian  lives  that 
we  live,  it  means  power  and  strength.  Let  us  preach, 
not  by  our  word,  but  by  2^ resenting  Him  as  chief  among 
ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely,  worthy  of  their  de- 
votion and  consecration  and  love  and  sacrifice,  that  they 
may  see  that  the  service  rendered  in  this  way  to  Christ 
is  a  reasonable  service. 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  brethren  before  me  will  take  up 
some  other  aspect  of  the  work  in  Japan,  but  let  me  say 
here  that  we  Avant  more  workers  in  Japan,  but  we  want 
workers  who  are  qualified  on  three  points.  First,  when 
they  come  to  Jai)an,  they  should  be  ready  to  become 
Japanese,  not  naturalized,  but  in  their  syjnpathies.  A 
man  or  woman  who  is  not  ready  to  do  that,  who  comes 
there  to  })ick  up  some  characteristics  in  Japan,  is  not 
wanted  in  Japan.  My  second  point  is  that  they  should 
come  trained  in  their  intellects.  By  this  I  do  not  mean 
that  they  should  have  great  erudition,  but,  generally 
speaking,  they  should  be  men  of  wisdom  and  common 
sense,  and,  whether  they  devote  their  lives  to  research 
or  other  particulars,  they  should  be  able  to  see  things 
with  the  eye  of  wisdom  and  common  sense.  Thirdly, 
1  wish  that  men  and  women  who  come  out  there  would 
have  good  health ;  because,  perhaps,  it  has  been  told  you 
that  Japan  is  a  good  country  with  an  even  climate,  and 
that,  when  you  go  there,  you 'can  live  just  as  w^ell  as  you 
live  here,  can  have  just  as  good  food  and  just  as  good 
ciothing,  just  as  good  houses;  as  you  are  having  here. 
But  there  are  also  dififlculties,  a  dififtculty  of  understand- 


THE  CRISIS  IN  JAPAN.  49 

ing  the  keen-minded,  the  critical  Japanese  and  recon- 
structing your  theology  on  a  systematic  doctrine,  so  that 
you  may  be  able  to  win  the  Japanese.  And  I  tell  you  that 
that  which  is  breaking  dow  n  most  of  these  earnest  men 
and  women  there  is  not  the  climate,  the  mode  of  living, 
but  the  intellectual  emotion.  I  warmly  inyite  you  to  this 
land  of  the  rising  sun. 

A^iscount  Yataro  Mishima,  of  Tokyo,  Japan,  said: 
During  the  last  six  years,  Christianity  has  made  won- 
derful progress  in  Jajian.  The  number  of  Chi'istians 
has  iiicreased  in  the  average  about  eight  times,  in  some 
denominations  as  many  as  eleven  times.  The  spirit  of 
the  people,  who  used  to  look  dowm  upon  the  Christians 
as  followers  of  the  devil,  has  now  changed.  I  do  not 
think  that  there  is  a  single  individual  Japanese  now  who 
thinks  Christianity  is  bad.  Indeed,  the  higher  classes 
are  educating  their  children  in  Christian  schools,  and, 
though  quite  a  number  of  the  people  are'  not  Christians, 
the  public  opinion  of  JaiDan  is  not  against  Christianity. 
This  can  be  confirmed  by  the  fact  that,  on  the  11th  of 
February,  this  year,  the  emperor  granted  the  constitu- 
tion, and  the  people  were  granted  freedom  of  speech, 
freedom  of  the  press,  and,  best  of  all,  freedom  of  relig- 
ion. People  will  be  attracted  to  the  capital  of  Japaii, 
not  only  from  all  the  parts  of  the  country,  but  also  from 
other  parts  of  Asia,  and  I  am  hoping  that  Christians  in 
the  universities  and  Christians  in  Tokyo  will  influence 
these  strangers  who  come  to  Tokyo. 

Last  night  you  heard  of  the  conversion  of  the  students 
in  the  university  of  Tokyo,  and  the  other  colleges.  It  is  a 
gi'eat  mystery  to-day.  The  university  was  knowm  as 
the  headquarters  of  infidelity,  and  no  Christian  could 
teach  the  college  boys  or  be  one  of  its  officers,  and  till 
late  years  no  one  dared  to  bring  a  Cliristian  influence 


50  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

into  the  institution.  But  what  a  change !  Now 
you  have  a  strong  Christian  organization  there,  and, 
though  not  strong  in  numbers,  in  quality  it  exceeds  any 
in  the  world.  This  means  a  great  deal  more  than  it 
looks.  It  is  the  highest  and  largest  institution  in 
Japan,  and  it  is  taken  as  the  model  of  all  colleges  and 
schools.  What  this  university  is,  all  the  other  in- 
stitutions will  imitate,  and  the  }'oung  men  in  this  uni- 
versity are  the  very  young  men  who  will  stand  at  tlie 
head  of  the  government  in  the  generation  to  come.  You 
can  imagine  what  a  university  we  have  in  a  co  imtr}^  like 
Japan,  where  the  government  does  so  much  for  the 
country.  All  this  was  done  under  the  guidance  of  God, 
by  only  one  man,  and  the  first  man  ever  sent  by  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Last  night  you  heard  of  the  great  work  of  Mr. 
L.  D.  Wishard  in  forming  that  first  summer  school  in 
Japan.  Now  just  think  of  it,  only  two  men  sent  by  such 
an  association  did  such  a  great  work!  How  much 
greater  work  they  would  do,  if  a  score  of  3'oung  men 
could  go  to  Japan. 

A  little  time  ago,  the  Japanese  government  decidetl 
that  the  English  language  should  be  taught  in  every 
school  in  Japan.  This  is  being  done  as  far  as  practi- 
cable, but  schools  are  many  and  teachers  few.  There 
is  also  a  universal  desire  that  the  English  language  be 
taught  by  Americans  or  Englishmen.  Besides,  the  chief 
body  of  every  church  while  in  this  country  it  consists 
of  older  people  and  ladies,  consists  in  Japan  of  young 
men,  who  are  in  all  points  of  perfect  s^^mpathy  with 
you. 

But  w©  have  great  difficulties.  When  the  Western 
civilization  was  first  introduced  into  Japan,  the  first 
thing  the  English  brought  was  not  Christianity,  it  was 
infidelity,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  many  of  the  i^ro- 


THE  CEISIS  IN  JAPAN.  51 

lessors  who  came  to  Japan  were  infidels,  and  they  are 
spreading  their  leligion  faster  than  Cliristianitj'.  Tliere 
are  now  (piite  a  good  many  Japanese,  wliose  faith  in  all 
religion  is  destroyed,  and,  without  knowing  what  Chris- 
tianit}'  is,  they  are  left  infidels. 

Another  trouble  is  that  the  Catholic  and  Greek 
churches  are  pushing  on  their  work  vigorously,  and 
these  people  are  ready  to  accei)t  what  comes  to  them 
first.  Friends,  this  is  really  a  great  crisis  for  Japan, 
and  there  is  a  great  battle-field  for  all  Christians.  ]f 
Christians  Avill  do  as  they  ought,  as  some  of  my  friends 
said  last  night,  Japan  can  be  Christianized  in  this  cen- 
tury; but,  if  not,  the  country  may  be  left  in  darkness  for 
centuries.  Oh,  friends:  will  you  send  helpers  there,  and 
send  reinforcements  to  those  brethren  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Pacific  and  bring  them  all  to  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ? 

Mr.  John  T.  Swift,  of  Tokyo,  said:  Two  years  ago 
this  A'ery  idght,  w^hile  sitting  yonder,  in  this  same  room, 
it  was  my  privilege  to  become  a  member  of  that  body  of 
young  msn  who  make  it  their  sole  aim  and  puriDose  in 
this  life  to  bring  the  glorious  tidings  of  salvation  to 
every  soul  in  this  universe  within  this  present  genera- 
tion. It  is  now  my  privilege,  nnder  the  grace  of  God,  to 
be  allowed  to  speak  to  axiu  a  little,  and  to  plead  with  you 
a  great  deal,  for  the  country  of  my  adoption. 

You  remeuiber  that  Mr.  Wishard,  in  his  letter  which 
was  read  last  night  (see  next  chapter),  said  that  he 
Avould  rather  be  in  that  students'  meeting  in  Kyoto  than 
in  Northfield,  that  he  would  rather  be  in  Japan  than  in 
heaven.  That  may  have  struck  3  ou  as  bombastic.  You 
may  remember  that  illustration  of  Dr.  Pierson,  in  which 
he  spoke  of  the  decision  of  the  committee  upon  the 
adoption  of  the  Morse  telegraph:  I  want  to  add  my  ex- 


52  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

perimental  knowledge  of  the  Japanese  situation  in  sup- 
port of  what  Mr.  Wishard  writes.  I  believe,  as  I  did  in 
college,  that  there  is  no  field  on  the  face  of  the  whole 
earth  so  important  as  the  field  of  Japan.  Where  can 
you  find  und?r  the  most  advantageous  circumstances 
the  flower  of  the  nation  so  warmly  welcoming  the  gospel ; 
where  can  you  find  the  flower  of  that  nation's  youth 
gathered  in  that  one  compact  order,  presenting  itself 
within  the  reach  of  Christian  efi'ort?  Could  you  find 
a  place  where  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Master  the  fruit 
could  hang  more  thickly?  And  I  believe,  gentle- 
men, that  is  the  one  part  of  Japan  which  in  the  past  has 
received  the  least  notice.  In  all  the  addresses  on  this 
subject,  we  have  spolvcn  only  of  the  students  in  the 
government  schools,  and  for  this  reason,  that,  till 
the  past  year,  almost  nothing  has  been  done  for  them. 
We  are  spending  thousands  of  dollars  every  year  in 
schools.  We  have  just  heard  the  cheering  news  that  one 
of  our  friends  here  has  given  |100,000  for  the  mis- 
sion of  College  of  Doshisha.  But  the  whole  Christian 
school  system  of  Japan  includes  but  10,000  scholars, 
7,000  of  them  being  young  men,  while  there  are  three 
millions  of  male  students  in  the  schools  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

Japan,  in  seeking  to  civilize  itself,  has  gone  about  in 
a  very  wi se  way.  She  has  spent  more  money,  more  time, 
more  thought,  upon  her  school  system  than  on  almost 
any  other  part  of  her  public  enterprises;  and  she  has 
to-day  throughout  her  broad  empire  fully  30,000  schools, 
graded  carefully,  from  the  common  schools  to  the  higher 
schools,  colleges  and  university.  In  these  government 
schools,  the  young  men  in  Japan  are  being  finely  edu- 
cated. I  remember  that  this  last  year  I  was  alloAVed,  in 
the  physical  laboratory  of  the  university,  to  see  an  in- 


THE  CRISIS  IN  japan:  53 

vestigatiou  made  by  a  Japanese  student  that  had  led  to 
the  discoveiy  of  a  new  property  in  nickel. 

We  find  it  is  stated  here  that  the  Japanese  are  wel- 
coming Christianit}'  because  they  are  an  imitative  people, 
and  have  no  stability  to  them.  Any  man  who  makes  that 
assertion  libels  one  of  the  grandest  nations  on  the  face 
of  the  earth  in  a  most  unwari'antable  manner.  Indeed 
anybody  who  will  take  the  pains  to  look  into  the  Japan- 
ese history  Avill  find  that  in  the  sixth  century  600,000 
Japanese  Eoman  Catholics  perished  as  Christian  mar- 
tyrs and,  so  far  as  we  can  find,  scarcely  a  score  re- 
nounced their  faith.  They  were  blotted  out  by  one  of 
the  fiercest  persecutions  that  ever  swept  this  earth.  You 
ask  for  the  metal  of  these  young  men.  Yale  College  has 
a  tutor  that  is  a  Japanese.  In  a  Western  universit}^ 
the  valedictory  scholar  in  one  of  the  classes  was  a 
Japanese.  General  Grant  said  that  he  could  take 
10,000  Japanese  soldiers  and  march  anywhere  through 
Cliina. 

Dear  friends,  cannot  you  see  that  there,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  ocean,  in  Asia,  is  a  nation  which,  like  the 
Greeks  of  old,  is  beckoning  to  us,  "to  come  over  and 
help."  Cannot  you  see  that  she  will  not  rest,  but  will 
push  forward?  Cannot  you  see  that  they  will  bring  no 
deadwood  into  our  ranks?  If  we  only  do  our  duty  by 
Japan  before  this  century  closes,  Japan  will  help  us  in 
bringing  the  gospel  to  Asia,  and  in  giving  it  to  the  whole 
world  before  the  close  of  this  generation. 

One  thing  more,  the  most  critical  portion  of  this  whole 
army  of  young  men,  the  most  strategic  position  of  all 
Asia,  lies  in  the  city  of  Tokyo.  We  have  there  the  capi- 
tal city  of  Japan,  the  central  city  of  the  Empire,  a  city 
which,  more  than  any  other,  is  free  from  prejudice  and  the 
bigotry  of  the  provinces,  the  city  in  wliich  the  Mikado 


54  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

has  his  palace,  the  head  of  all  departments  of  govern 
ment  and  life  in  the  empire.  The:  e  the  armj  centres,  and, 
more  important  than  all  for  our  purposes,  the  education- 
al department.  It  is  a  city  of  1,200,000  souls.  There  are 
80,000  students  in  the  schools  above  the  primary  grade. 
Can  another  city  on  the  face  of  the  globe  equal  that  ? 
For  these  students,  receiving  a  fine  education,  scarcely 
anything  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  Christian  work. 
Dear  friends,  if.  I  was  alluding  to  something  that  I  had 
done,  I  would  not  speak  of  it  to-night,  but  I  can  claim 
not  the  slightest  credit  for  what  tlie  grace  of  God  has 
wrought  there.  When  I  first  went  to  Tokyo,  I  made  the 
suggestion  that  perhaps  it  might  be  well  for  a  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  to  be  established  in  the  uni- 
versity, and  in  the  higher  government  colleges.  The  mis- 
sionaries said:  '"That  is  a  good  idea  if  you  couhl  find 
a  Christian."  We  issued  a  call,  and  at  the  first  meet- 
ing there  came  twenty-six,  with  letters  of  regret  from 
others.  Now  we  have  over  a  hundred  enrolled  among  the 
different  colleges.  In  the  university  to-day  we  have  more 
Christians  enrolled  in  the  Christian  Association  than 
there  were  in  Yale  in  the  beginning  of  this  century 
(Hear,  that's  good — Mr.  Moody).  Se;  arated  in  the  vai  ions 
grades,  they  thought  they  had  stood,  like  Elijah,  alone, 
but,  Avhen  they  found  that  there  were  twenty-six  Chris- 
tians in  the  university,  they  went  to  work  with  a  courage 
and  determination  which  they  had  never  known  before. 
As  a  result,  the  director  of  the  government  institution 
with  the  largest  enrolment  has  granted  our  association 
the  right  of  publishing  notices  of  their  religious  meetings 
and  the  day  of  holding  their  meetings  in  the  schools. 
These  associations  have  held  meetings  for  the  students 
in  the  largest  church  in  Tokyo,  which  seats  only  500.  I 
have  seen  it  crammed,  so  that  150  men  stood  for  three 


THE  CKISIS  IN  JAPAN.  55 

hours.  The  size  of  our  audiences  is  commensurate  with 
the  size  of  our  churches.  The  students  of  Tokyo  have 
no  place  to  meet  in  a  common  body,  no  place  for  large 
assemblies,  and  you  will  be  glad  to  see  that  God  ha» 
added  his  blessing  upon  this  work,  in  that  He  has 
given  us  the  privilege  of  raising  money  for  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
building,  to  be  placed  right  in  the  centre  of  the  best 
district  of  that  city,  and  we  have,  as  you  know  from 
Mr.  Wishard's  letter  (see  next  chapter),  the  lot  pur- 
chased for  an  association  building  for  the  university. 
And  now,  nothing  seems  to  det^r  us  from  an  assault 
upon  that,  the  most  important  strategic  point  in  the 
whole  Asiatic  situation,  but  the  provision  for  that 
building. 

A  pleasant  feature  of  the  meeting  at  which  the  above 
addresses  were  given,  and  in  which  great  enthusiasm 
was  manifested  for  the  work  in  Japan,  w^as  the  ex- 
change of  greetings  between  Mr.  Wishard's  Japanese 
Summer  School  and  the  Northfield  School.  The  greet- 
ings were  contained  in  the  folloAving  cablegrams: — 

Kj^oto,  July  5:  Ober,  Northfield. — Make  Jesus  King. 
Five  hundred  students. — Wishard. 

Northfield,  July  8:  Wishard,  Kyoto, — Students  hun- 
(h-ed,  twenty-six  colleges  greeting. — Ober. 

A  unanimous  resolution  was  passed  by  the  students 
that  Mr.  John  T.  Swift,  on  his  return  to  Japan,  be  re- 
quested to  convey  the  greetings  of  the  Northfield  Stu- 
dents' Conference  to  the  students  in  the  Japanese  col- 
leges and  universities. 

While  these  matters  were  pending,  Mr.  Moody  sug- 
gested a  collection  for  the  church  enterprise  of  Rev. 
John  T.  Ise  in  Japan,  and,  so  great  was  the  enthusiasm, 
that  within  fifteen  minutes  |1000  was  raised  for  this 
purpose,  |100  each  being  contributed  by  Mr.  D.  W.  Wes- 


56  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

ton,  of  Boston,  Mr.  Geo.  M.  Atwater,  of  Springfield, 
Messrs  James  Talcott  and  John  D.  Cutter,  of  New  York, 
and  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sanke}^  This  unexpected  aid  al- 
most overwhelmed  Mr.  Ise,  who  expressed  his  gratitude 
briefly  but  eloquently. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.    IX  JAPAX. 

Letter  from  Mr.  L.  D.  Wishard—  His  Visiting  Tour— Meetings  at  Doshisha 
College— Osaka  and  Tokyo— Nagasaki  and  Kiimamoto— Otlier  Uni- 
versities—Summer Scliool  in  Kyoto— Significant  Facts— Educated 
Christians— Misrepresentations  Counteracted— Northfield  Remem- 
bered. 

Tokyo,  Japan,  June  6tb,  1889. 
Dear  Fellow  Students : 

For  the  second  time  I  am  i^revented  from  meeting  with 
yon  at  our  Students'  Annual  Meeting  in  ^N'orthfield.  Last 
year  I  was  detained  by  the  college  work  in  Europe;  this 
year  by  the  work  in  Japan.  While  my  heart  turns  to 
Northfield  with  much  the  same  strong  love  with  which 
Rutherford's  turned  to  Anworth,  I  must  say  that  I 
would  rather  be  in  Japan  to-day  than  in  Northfield — 
yes,  I  would  rather  be  in  Japan  to-day  than  in 
heaven. 

The  year  1889  will  live  in  Japanese  histor}^  as  the  year 
1789  lives  in  American.  It  will  live  as  the  year  when 
Constitutional  government  was  proclaimed  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Land  of  the  Morning.  But  the  year  will 
be  memorable  for  another  reason.  It  is  the  birth-year 
of  an  Intercollegiate  Christian  movement  bj'  which  the 
Christianization  of  the  Empire  will  be  hastened  and  the 
people  will  be  better  fitted  for  self-government.  You  can 
better  appreciate  the  situation  here  if  I  give  3  on  a  sketch 
of  the  rapid  progress  of  this  movement  as  I  daily  observe 
it. 

I  landed  in  Yokohoma,  January  8th,  1889,  and,  as  the 
representative  of  the  students  of  America  and  Europe, 
entered  upon  a  tour  of  visitation  in  the  leading  govern- 

57 


58  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

jnent  and  Christian  schools.  I  was  met  b}^  Mr. 
J.  T.  Swift,  of  Yale,  '84,  who  had  come  to  Japan  a 
3  ear  before  to  engage  in  teaching,  and  to  aid  in  locating 
teachers  from  America  in  the  government  schools  of 
Japan.  In  connection  with  his  arduous  work,  he  has 
cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  the  Christian  students  in 
the  three  leading  government  colleges  of  the  Empire. 
The  Imperial  University,  the  Pre]  aratory  College  and 
the  Commercial  College.  He  has  formed  Bible  Classes 
in  each  of  these  institutions,  and  has  developed  them  into 
College  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  three  asso- 
ciations containing  over  one  hundi^ed  Christian  students. 
He  has  obtained  |25,000  from  a  gentleman  in  America 
toward  the  erection  of  two  buildings — one  for  business 
men,  the  other  for  students,  both  to  cost  100,000.  His 
adaptability  to  this  work  Avas  so  evident  that  he  was  per- 
suaded to  resign  his  professorship,  and  devote  his  entire 
time  to  the  work  of  an  adviser  of  the  leaders  of  this  en- 
terprise. 

By  invitation  of  Viscount  Mishima,  whom  you  will 
doubtless  have  with  you  at  Northfield,  Mr.  Swift  and  I 
met  twenty  leading  members  of  the  three  Associations, 
and  arranged  a  series  of  meetings  for  students  in  Tokyo 
to  be  conducted  in  March.  In  answer  to  an  invitation 
from  the  faculty  and  students,  we  then  went  to  Doshisha 
College,  located  at  Kyoto,  the  old  Capital  of  the  Empire. 
It  is  the  largest  Christian  school  in  Japan,  and  the 
Wrongest  one,  I  believe,  in  Asia.  There  are  over  seven 
hundi'ed  students.  Fully  half  of  them  were  already  pro- 
fessing Christians  when  Ave  began  the  meetings.  We 
spent  over  two  weeks  conducting  daily  meetings  and  re- 
ceiving students  in  our  rooms  for  i^ersonal  conversation. 
The  Holy  Spirit  moved  mightily  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
students,    and    notwithstanding    the    difficulty    under 


THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  IN  JAPAN.  59 

which  we  labored  in  working  through  interpreters,  over 
one  hundred  students  professed  Christ.  In  one  day  one 
hundi-ed  and  three  students  were  received  into  the  Col- 
lege Church.  Joseph  Neesima,  the  distinguished  Presi- 
dent of  the  College,  says :  "  This  is  the  largest  number 
of  Christians  ever  baptized  at  one  time  in  Japan."  We 
next  visited  the  government  schools  in  Hikone,  and  con- 
ducted one  meeting,  at  the  close  of  which  twelve  stu- 
dents remained  to  converse  about  Christianity,  and  four 
expressed  a  desire  to  accept  Christ. 

The  next  point  visited  was  Osaka,  where  I  conducted 
several  crowded  meetings  in  the  only  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  Building  in  the  Orient.  It  seats  over 
twelve  hundred.  Large  numbers  of  government  students 
were  present,  and  many  expressed  a  desire  to  become 
Christians.  One  student,  who  had  heard  so  little  of 
Christ  that  he  did  not  understand  of  whom  I  was  speak- 
ing, followed  my  party  to  the  train  late  at  night,  and 
said  that  he  ''  was  so  interested  in  w^hat  the  speaker  had 
said  about  that  wonderful  person,  that  he  wanted  to 
know  more  about  Him."  He  gladly  promised  to  join  a 
Bible  Class  conducted  by  one  of  the  lady  missionaries. 
I  have  recently  made  a  second  visit  to  Osaka  to  follow 
up  the  work  begun  in  February.  The  meetings  of  stu- 
dents and  others  twice  a  day  in  Association  Hall  were 
crowded.  I  met  the  students  of  the  Government  Prepar- 
atory College  several  times.  The  Principal  expressed  a 
willingness  to  have  me  address  a  large  meeting  of  stu- 
dents in  the  College  Building — the  first  meeting  in  the 
interest  of  Christianity  ever  held  in  the  building.  All 
the  students,  and  a  number  of  professors,  including  the 
Principal,  were  present.  The  subject  was  the  '^  Harmony 
of  the  Bible  with  Science."  On  another  occasion,  the 
leading  students  of  this  institution  asked  questions  about 


60  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Christianity.  A  little  group  of  Christian  students  here 
have  been  holding  a  prayer  meeting  ever  since  our  first 
visit.  The}^  formed  a  College  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  the  day  before  I  left,  and  were  earnestly  dis- 
cussing plans  for  work  among  the  students,  who  had  ex- 
pressed a  determination  to  investigate  Christianity.  The 
last  day  in  Osaka  was  enriched  by  such  an  out-pouring  of 
the  Spirit  as  I  never  before  witnessed  in  Japan,  and  sel- 
dom in  America.  Notwithstanding  the  heavy  rain,  the 
building  was  filled  Sunday  morning.  The  subject  was  the 
sin  of  rejecting  Christ.  Many  were  in  tears  and  an  awful 
stillness  reigned  in  the  meeting.  At  the  close  of  the 
address,  over  one  hundred  rose  to  accept  Christ,  includ- 
ing many  government  students.  They  returned  in  the 
afternoon  and  spent  two  hours  in  an  inquiry  meeting, 
and  also  filled  the  building  again  at  night.  The  follow- 
ing up  of  this  work  in  the  Osaka  government  schools  is 
assured  b}^  the  presence  of  Mr.  Theodore  Gulick  (of  the 
noted  Gulick  missionary  family)  and  Mr.  Bassett,  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota,  '87,  who  teach  in  two  of  the  lead- 
ing government  schools  in  this  city. 

After  the  first  visit  in  Osaka,  in  February,  I  spent  a 
Sunday  in  Kobe  conducting  meetings  in  a  scho  d  of  young 
women,  over  sixty  of  whom  desired  to  accept  Clu'ist. 
These  girls  had  been  spending  much  time  in  prayer  for 
the  work  in  Doshisha.  In  thus  helping  to  bless  others, 
they  had  secured  a  great  blessing  for  themselves.  The 
work  in  Tokyo  consumed  several  weeks.  A  two  week's 
series  of  meetings  was  conducted  in  the  Meiji  Gakuin,  the 
second  largest  Christian  College  in  the  Empire.  Twenty 
men  were  baptized,  and  about  ten  more  will  be  soon. 
One  day  the  Christian  students  spent  several  hours  in 
a  meeting  of  confession  and  prayer,  which  one  of  the 
faculty  told  me  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  meet- 


THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  IN  JAPAN.  61 

ings  he  had  ever  attended  in  Japan.  The  students  invited 
all  the  professors  to  attend  the  meeting,  and  the  burden 
of  their  confessions  was  that  they  had  not  been  as  loyal 
in  heart  as  they  should  have  been  to  the  faculty.  They 
said:  "Heretofore,  we  have  looked  upon  j^ou  merely  as 
teachers,  but  now  we  look  upon  you  as  brothers." 

Meetings  were  also  conducted  in  other  Christian 
schools,  and  with  the  Associations  of  the  three  govern- 
ment schools.  Two  students'  mass  meetings  were  held. 
But  these  could  not  be  held  frequently  as  there  was  no 
hall  in  tlie  student  center  which  could  be  secured  for 
Christian  gatherings.  This  interfered  seriously  with  my 
work.  I  am  very  glad  to  say  that  this  difficulty  will 
soon  be  removed.  We  have  purchased  a  beautifully 
located  lot  in  the  very  heart  of  the  student  population, 
less  than  five  minutes'  walk  from  the  buildings  of  the 
Imperial  University  and  Preparatory  College,  botli 
containing  seventeen  hundred  students  and  less  than 
twenty  minutes'  walk  from  the  leading  Commercial  and 
Normal  Colleges  of  the  Empire,  containing  a  thousand 
more.  Upon  this  lot  we  shall  erect  a  building  in  the 
fall,  which  will  be  adapted  to  social  and  Christian 
work.  It  will  contain  a  good  sized  hall  where  students 
can  gather  for  such  meetings  as  we  could  not  have  to 
any  extent  in  March.  A  General  Secretary  will  be  se- 
cured on  the  Yale,  Cornell  and  Toronto  plan,  and  a  sim- 
ilar work  carried  on.  If  Mr.  Swift,  who  is  now  in  Amer- 
ica, is  finding  difficulty  in  securing  the  |15,000  needed 
for  this  building,  why  will  not  the  Northfield  Summer 
School  influence  this  gift  from  some  one  or  more  of  the 
large-hearted  business  men  who  will  be  in  attendance 
at  the  meeting?  Those  |15,000  will  mean  more  than 
15,000  saved  Japanese  before  the  century  closes — saved 
directly  and  indirectly  as  a  result  of  this  building. 


G2  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

The  next  point  visited  was  Nagasaki,  at  the  entrance 
of  whose  beautiful  harbor  stands  a  lofty  rock — Pappen- 
berg  (Pope's  Rock),  from  whose  top  many  Christian 
Japanese  were  hurled  by  their  persecutors  several  cen- 
turies ago.  I  had  not  intended  to  stay  there  long,  but 
so  urgent  an  invitation  came  from  the  little  band  of 
Christian  men  in  the  government  medical  school,  to  con- 
duct some  special  meetings  for  the  government  students, 
that  I  remained,  and  notwithstanding  the  driving  rain 
the  largest  church  was  literally  packed  with  students. 
In  company  with  one  of  the  missionaries,  I  visited  the 
leading  government  schools,  where  we  were  accorded  a 
courteous  welcome  by  the  professors  who  readily  con- 
sented to  announce  the  meetings  to  the  students.  At 
the  close  of  the  meetings,  over  fifty  students  pledged 
themselves  to  enter  immediately  upon  earnest  investiga- 
tion of  Christianity. 

Kumamoto  was  the  next  point,  where  we  were  likely 
to  encounter  great  hostility;  but  on  the  first  afternoon 
seventy  of  the  students  of  the  Government  Preparatory 
College  called  en  masse,  questioned  me  for  an  hour  or 
more  about  Christianity  and  Western  students,  and  in- 
vited me  to  conduct  some  meetings  for  them.  They  ap- 
pointed a  committee,  had  fifteen  hundred  tickets  printed 
announcing  the  meetings,  hired  the  largest  hall  in  the 
city,  which  the  students  crowded  for  several  days.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  work  in  the  government  schools,  the  Chris- 
tian schools  received  a  special  blessing.  A  number  of 
Christian  students  held  an  all-night  prayer  meeting,  and 
a  deep  spiritual  atmosphere  jiervaded  almost  every  room. 
Many  of  the  students  have  since  accepted  Christ.  At 
the  close  of  the  public  meetings,  a  number  of  students 
who  were  willing  then  and  there  to  accept  Christ  rose. 
A  goodly  number  were  also  deeply  interested  in  Chris- 


THE  y.  M.  C.  A.  IN  JAPAN.  63 

tianitv  and  i^romised  to  immediately  and  earnestly  in- 
vestigate it.  Our  interpreter,  Mr.  Ebina,  says  that  a  num- 
ber of  them  are  now  studying  the  Bible  wih  him,  Avhile 
others  are  studying  with  Mr.  Crummey,  of  A^ictoria  Uni- 
versity, Canada,  who  is  teaching  in  the  Preparatory  Col- 
lege. Mr.  C.  A.  Clarke,  of  Oberlin,  '87,  one  of  the  stu- 
dent missionary  volunteers,  Mr.  Ebina  and  myself,  vis- 
ited a  hill  top  near  the  city  where  a  meeting  of  forty 
government  students  was  held  in  January,  1876,  which 
is  as  A'itally  connected  with  the  spread  of  Christianity  in 
Japan  as  the  Hay  Stack  meeting  at  Williams  college  in 
1806  with  the  great  missionary  movement  of  this  cen- 
tury. Mr.  Ise  who  is  with  you,  was  a  member  of  that 
Kumamoto  Band  and  he  will  tell  you  the  thrilhng  story 
which  Mr.  Ebina  told  us. 

From  Kumamoto  we  went  to  Saga,  where  Bradbury, 
of  the  University  of  Virginia,  '88,  is  teaching.  We  next 
visited  Toyotsu, where  Hubbard,of  Michigan  University, 
'88,  is  teachirg.  I  was  the  fourth  foreigner  who  had  vis- 
ited Toyotsu,  Hubbard  being  the  second,  and  he  has 
only  seen  one  foreign  visitor  since  September.  He  is 
full  of  courage,  however,  and  he  and  Bradbury,  during 
these  months  of  separation  from  human  friends,  are  be- 
coming closely  acquainted  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  are 
realizing  the  truth  of  the  dying  exclamation  of  Dr.  An- 
derson, Secretary  of  the  American  Board :  "  I  shall  feel 
at  home  in  any  world  with  Jesus."  The  meeting  at  Toy- 
otsu was  in  the  school  building,  as  was  also  that  in 
Wakayama,  where  Muller,  of  the  University  of  Virginia, 
is  teaching.  I  mention  the  fact  of  holding  meetings  in 
the  government  school  building  especially,  as  it  is  a  new 
departure  full  of  significance,  as  Mr.  Ise,  Viscount  Mish- 
ima  and  the  Japanese  delegates  will  explain. 

Okayama  was   next  visited,   where  Boggs   of  Lake 


64  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

Forest,  '88,  is  teaching.  Several  days'  meetings  had  been 
arranged  there.  A  large  theatre,  seating  over  sixteen 
hundred,  was  croAvded  at  every  meeting.  At  the  first 
meeting  a  number  of  Buddhist  priests  attempted  to  cre- 
ate an  uproar.  At  the  close  of  my  address,  I  stated  that 
I  had  come  to  Japan  for  the  express  purpose  of  address- 
ing students,  and  did  not  care  to  have  any  one  else  pres- 
ent, and  that  if  it  was  not  an  accommodation  to  others  to 
be  admitted,  we  would  have  the  balance  of  the  meetings 
in  a  smaller  hall  and  admit  none  but  students.  I  then 
asked  the  students  what  they  desired  me  to  do.  This 
appeal  to  them  brought  the  blood  to  their  faces,  and  one 
of  them,  not  a  Christian,  arose  and  said  that  if  any  dis- 
order occurred  at  the  next  meeting,  the  students  would 
vigorously'  eject  the  disturbers.  This  sentiment  was  so 
loudly  applauded  by  the  students  that  the  priests  prob- 
abl\'  feared  they  were  to  be  ejected  then  and  there.  That 
night  a  suspicious  looking  priest  was  observed  to  enter 
and  creep  back  into  a  corner  where  he  could  be  heard  but 
not  seen.  One  of  the  students  with  a  very  grave  face, 
took  a  large  Jaj^anese  lantern  about  the  size  of  Mr. 
Moody's  and  suspended  it  directly  back  of  the  suspect, 
who  it  is  needless  to  say  was  very  distinctly  seen  but  not 
lieard.  He  was  the  quietest,  best  behaved  Buddhist 
])riest  that  night  in  all  Okayama.  The  meetings  closed 
as  usual  with  the  promise  of  many  to  accept  Christ, 
and  of  many  more  to  seriously  consider  Him. 

I  have  just  finished  a  series  of  meetings  in  Sendai  with 
the  government  students  of  another  of  the  five  Prepara- 
tory Colleges  of  the  Empire.  The  hearts  of  Mr.  De  For- 
est, of  Yale,  and  other  missionaries  have  been  rejoiced 
by  the  decision  of  some  of  the  best  students  in  the  Chris- 
tian school  to  profess  Christ,  while  many  government 
students  have  also  acknowledged  Him.    The  next  point 


THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  IN  JAPAN.  G5 

will  be  Sapporo  Agricultural  College,  after  which  I  will 
probabl}'  visit  Miyata,  hoping  to  meet  there  Dr.  Scudder, 
of  Yale,  '80,  the  first  president  of  the  Christian  Social 
Union  in  Yale,  which  developed  into  the  present  Associa- 
tion in  that  University.  I  shall  then  spend  two  Aveeks  at 
Nikko,  the  beautiful  summer  resort  of  Japan,  resting  and 
preparing  for  the  first  College  Students'  Summer  School 
in  Japan,  which  assembles  June  29th — July  9th,  in  Ky- 
oto, imder  the  verj^  shadow  of  the  old  palace  of  the 
Mikado. 

When  Mr.  Swift  and  I  were  in  the  Doshisha,  the  stu- 
dents on  hearing  of  the  Summer  School  in  Northfield 
asked  us  to  conduct  a  two  weeks'  meeting  for  I5ible  study 
with  them  at  the  close  of  the  Summer  term.  We  con- 
sented and  suggested  that  the  nieeting  be  Intercollegiate 
and  that  students  from  all  Christian  and  leading  gov- 
ernment schools  be  invited.  They  enthusiastically  as- 
sented and  the  first  Students'  Convention  ever  held  in 
Japan  will  be  this  Christian  gathering.  A  large  attend- 
ance from  other  colleges  is  already  assured,  and  many 
native  pastors  and  Christian  business  men  will  be  pres- 
ent. Several  of  the  leading  native  pastors  of  the  Empire 
will  deliver  most  of  the  addi-esses.  There  will  also  be 
present  several  prominent  missionaries  including  De 
Forest,  of  Yale,  and  Knox,  of  Princeton.  AVe  will  have 
two  sessions  daily — from  9  A.M.  to  noon,  and  6:30  to 
8:30  P.M.  The  addresses  will  be  strictly  limited  to 
thirty  minutes,  as  we  wish  to  give  much  time  to  ques- 
tions. Wyckoff,  of  Knox,  '83,  will  lead  the  singing.  He 
is  a  combination  of  Sankey  and  Towner.  He  is  training 
a  choir,  and  we  shall  "Move  Forward,"  "On  the  Waj^," 
with  as  much  enthusiasm  if  not  as  much  melody  as  the 
Northfield  Crowd.  The  four  great  themes  of  study  will 
b^-"Tlie  Use  of  the  Bible  in   Personal  Work,"   "The 


66  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  Service,"  "The  Relation 
of  Prayer  to  Successful  Work,"  and  "Methods  of  Work 
Specially  Adapted  to  Students  and  Young  Men."  We 
shall  study  these  subjects  Scripturally.  The  best  ad- 
dresses will  be  published  in  the  Japanese  "College  of 
Colleges" — a  book  Avliich  will  be  widely  circulated 
among  students  early  in  the  fall.  There  will  doubtless 
be,  at  least,  five  hundred  clielegates — a  larger  number 
than  gathered  at  the  first  Summer  School  at  Mt.  Hermon. 
Fully  one  hundred  students  will  go  from  the  meeting  to 
engage  in  evangelistic  work  in  all  parts  of  Japan.  Will 
you  not  devote  at  let-.st  one  full  meeting  to  prayer  for  this 
great  movement  in  Jaj^an?  I  am  sure  the  Japanese  del- 
egates will  second  this  request. 

Let  me  now  call  your  special  attention  to  a  few  signifi- 
cant facts: 

First. — The  large  proportion  of  highly  educated  young 
men  in  Japan,  Avho  are  already  Christian.  While  only 
one  in  fifteen  hundred  of  the  entire  population  is  Chris- 
tian, one  in  twenty  of  the  students  in  five  of  the  leading 
government  colleges  of  the  Empire  is  Christian.  It  nmst 
be  borne  in  mind  that  thus  far  next  to  nothing  has  been 
done  to  evangelize  the  government  students.  If,  notwith- 
standing this,  the  proportion  of  Christians  is  already  so 
large,  what  may  we  not  expect  as  the  result  of  a  definite 
movement  among  them?  As  for  the  Christian  schools, 
a  large  proportion,  in  some  cases  a  large  majority,  of  the 
students  are  Christians.  As  are  the  students  of  Ger- 
many, so  is  Cermany,  applies  with  equal  force  to  this 
country.  If  the  students  here  determine  to  Christian- 
ize the  country,  the  Avork  will  be  done. 

Second. — This  tour  is  helping  to  counteract  the  mis- 
representations which  have  been  made  in  Japan.  The 
Japanese  have  been  told  tliat  Christianity  is  losing  it§ 


THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  IN  JAPAN.  67 

liold  upon  the  educated  classes  in  America.  I  am  able 
to  offset  their  statements  by  the  fact  that  while  among 
the  uneducated  j^oung  men  in  America,  the  immense 
majority  are  not  professing  Christians,  among  the  stu- 
dents and  recent  graduates  of  the  colleges  and  univer- 
sities, a  caref  id  estimate  would  shoAV  that  over  one-third 
are  professing  Christians. 

The  hope  is  expressed  upon  all  sides  that  my  tour  of 
visitation  in  those  institutions  ma}^  be  but  the  beginning 
of  a  series  of  such  visits  from  students  and  professors 
from  the  AA'est.  The  Kyoto  Summer  School  will  inaug- 
urate a  permanent  agency  authorized  to  invite  certain 
well-known  gentlemen  from  the  West  and  to  supervise 
and  direct  their  work  in  Japan.  Their  presentation  of 
the  arguments  in  support  of  the  harmony  of  science  and 
Christianity,  by  widely  known  Christian  scientific  men, 
will  meet  a  great  present  need  in  Japan.  The  matter 
has  been  fully  discussed  in  Japan  and  the  leading  mis- 
sionaries give  their  unqualified  endorsement.  I  am 
rejoiced  to  know  that  Mr.  David  McConaughy,  Jr.,  of 
Philadelphia,  who  so  soon  enters  his  proposed  work  in 
India  is  to  be  with  you.  I  hope  to  join  him  there  in  De- 
cember and  unite  with  him  in  such  a  movement  as  we 
find  adapted  to  those  students. 

Northfield  will  often  be  referred  to  at  Kyoto.  I  will 
ignore  the  difference  in  time  and  think  of  you  during  the 
hours  of  the  day.  When  I  awaken  in  the  early  morning 
and  look  out  upon  the  sacred  mountains  which  surround 
the  old  city,  I  shall  think  of  the  hills  about  "Northfield 
and  shall  follow  Mr.  Moody  in  imagination  as  he  takes 
his  morning  diive  toward  Mt.  Hermon  to  see  that  no 
disaster  has  befallen  the  "apple  of  his  eye"  during  the 
night.  I  shall  almost  hear  the  singing  of  the  great  aud- 
ience in  Stone  Hall,  such  singing  as  I  never  exj)ect  to 


68  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

hear  this  side  of  heaven.  When  jo\i  sing — "Move  For- 
ward, the  Light  Begins  to  Shine,"  think  of  Japan,  the 
Land  of  the  Morning,  Avhere  the  Bnn  of  Righteousness 
is  indeed  brightly  shining.  The  whole  day's  programme 
will  pass  before  me.  The  animated  addi-esses  of  Bishop 
Baldwin,  I*rof.  Harper,  Dr.  Hoge,  Mr.  Moody  and  others. 
The  afternoon  games — the  twilight  meeting  of  the  mis- 
sionary volunteers,  for  whose  coming  we  are  eagerly 
watching,  and  the  conference  of  prospective  general 
secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association — 
the  business  men's  movement  of  the  century — the  great 
mass  meeting  in  the  evening — the  evening  prayer  meet- 
ings of  the  delegations.  I  shall  live  over  eA^ery  incident 
of  the  livelong  day,  and  try  to  work  the  enthusiasm  into 
the  Kyoto  meeting.  I  earnestly  commend  to  your  affec- 
tionate regard,  my  friends  Viscount  Mishima,  and  Mr. 
Ise,  and  the  Japanese  delegation,  as  well  as  the  entirte 
delegation  of  young  men  from  the  far  East. 

Assuring  you  of  my  daily  prayers  and  unchanging  love 
for  the  students  of  America,  and  uniting  with  you  in  the 
earnest  prayer,  which  you  will  so  often  voice  in  song, 
that  Jesus  may  indeed  be  made  King  over  the  wide 
world,  I  am, 

Ever  yours,  in  His  Name, 

L.  D.  WISHAED. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

STUDENT    WORK    IX    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Experience  of  College  Men  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland— Mission^ 
ary  Interest  in  Dublin  Universitj-— Evidence  that  the  Volunteer 
Movement  is  not  Confined  to  America— Duty  of  Christian  Students 
in  Their  Institutions— Christian  Work  in  the  Slums  of  Cambridge- 
Reflex  Influence  of  Student  Work  on  the  Workers— The  Best  Prepa- 
ration for  Foreign  Work. 

At  one  of  the  last  meetings,  the  students  from  Great 
Britain  were  invited  to  speak  briefly  of  the  Christian 
work  in  their  respective  universities. 

J.  Xorthridge,  of  Dublin,  said:  What  has  struck  me 
most  during  the  meetings  of  this  conference  is  the  in- 
tense missionary  sj^irit  that  seems  to  prevail  at  every 
meeting,  not  onlj^  on  the  hill  top  yonder,  not  only  dur- 
ing the  thrilling  addresses  of  Dr.  Pierson  and  other 
great  speakers,  but  it  seems  to  be  in  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  this  place.  I  think  it  could  hardlj^  be  other- 
wise, with  nearly  a  hundred  volunteers  for  the  foreign 
field  amongst  us. 

This  has  been  to  me  a  source  of  great  pleasure.  Ire- 
land has  historical  connection  with  missionary  enter- 
prise. In  its  golden  days,  it  gave  Christianity  to  Scot- 
land, and  to  the  greater  part  of  England;  it  sent  mis- 
sionaries to  German}^,  to  Sw  itzerland  and  Italy.  Bishop 
Berkeley  was  one  of  the  noble  missionaries  it  sent  out. 
As  to  the  present  time ;  about  four  years  ago,  in  Dublin 
University  there  was  a  great  revival.  We  had  meetings 
addressed  by  two  of  our  own  missionaries  from  China 
and  India,  and  by  two  Cambridge  graduates,  going  to 
the  foreign  field.  At  the  close  about  forty  students 
volunteered.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  all  that  might  have 
been  expected  from    such  a    beginning  has    not  been 


TO  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

gained.  Some  of  the  volunteers  went  to  the  mission 
fields,  but  we  have  lost  sight  of  most  of  them.  How- 
ever, this  movement  was  not  altogether  lost.  A  mis- 
sionary society  was  started  in  our  university.  It  is 
affiliated  with  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  is 
presided  over  by  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  has 
raised  about  12000  a  year.  It  has  sent  out  one  mis- 
sionary to  China,  and  hopes  to  send  out  a  medical  mis- 
sionary in  a  few  months,  to  the  same  field.  We  have 
also  raised  money  to  send  out  a  third,  and  in  the  near 
future,  hope  to  have  a  fourth  and  fifth.  Our  divinity 
professor  also  took  a  great  interest  in  the  movement. 

There  are  many  other  evidences  of  widespread  mis- 
sionary interest  in  Ireland  now\  The  movement  in 
America  is  not  a  solitary  one.  We  are  beginning  to 
send  out  our  best  students  as  missionaries.  Last  year 
we  sent  out  a  man  who  got  the  highest  honors  at  his  de- 
gree. This  medical  missionary  who  is  soon  going  out 
has  just  graduated  with  highest  honors.  I  do  not  know 
anything  about  3^our  army  sj^stem  here,  but  at  home, 
when  we  have  real  wars,  we  send  out  our  veterans,  and 
keep  our  raw  recruits  at  home.  If  God's  army  did  the 
same,  1  think  we  would  have  a  different  record  to-day 
(That  means  we  ought  to  go — Mr.  Moody).  Another 
evidence  of  the  widespread  interest  is  that  a  w^ell-known 
bishojj  said  that  one  of  his  sons  had  told  him  that  he 
wished  to  be  a  foreign  missionary,  and  added  he  was 
hapx)ier  to  hear  that  than  if  his  son  was  prime  minis- 
ter of  England.  One  of  our  missionaries  who  came  home 
for  his  health  left  two  of  his  boys  at  home  to  be  edu- 
cated. Before  leaving  them  to  return  to  his  field  he 
taught  them  a  prayer  to  be  said  every  day:  ''O,  God 
lielp  me  to  grow  up  a  good  man  and  be  a  missionary  to 
China." 


STUDENT  WORK  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  71 

These  are  proofs  of  the  widely  extended  missionary 
movement.  I  believe  that  all  the  Christian  countries  are 
moving  forw,ard  in  this  great  matter,  and  that  before 
advancing  Christendom  the  clouds  of  heathenism  will 
soon  be  rolled  away,  and  Christ  will  be  Lord  of  all,  hav- 
ing dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth. 

J.  H.  MacLean,  of  Glasgow,  said:  There  are  some- 
things Christian  men  ought  to  do  for  their  university. 
First,  they  ought  to  make  as  strong  an  effort  as  possi- 
ble to  attend  the  regular  weekly  meeting.  Instead  of 
asking  a  man  to  go  to  the  meeting,  when  one  does  not 
go  himself,  the  proper  way  is  to  recommend  the  man  to 
go  with  him.  Second,  they  should  hold  a  special  meet- 
ing for  students.  Third,  they  should  undertake  city 
work.  In  Glasgow  some  of  our  men  have  taken  up  this 
work  more  vigoroush^  than  before,  and  have  found  it  one 
of  the  best  things  they  ever  undertook,  e^en  as  a 
means  of  training.  We  have  evangelistic  meetings, 
gospel  temperance  meetings  and  a  pretty  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  district  visiting.  The  university  settlement  is  a 
work  we  hope  to  establish.  W^e  propose  to  settle  down 
among  the  people,  occupying  a  flat,  and  living  among 
them,  and  tr3ang  to  let  our  influence  be  felt  there. 
We  can  by  that  means  do  more  Christian  work  without 
giving  more  time  to  it  than  now.  W^e  hope  soon  to  be 
able  to  raise  |2000  for  this  work,  which  will  then  be 
a  training  ground,  both  for  ourselves  and  also  for  future 
generations  of  students. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  the  students  should 
carry  on  this  missionary  work.  W^e  should  be  students, 
not  only  of  theology,  but  of  all  human  nature.  No  field 
gives  greater  opportunities  of  studying  human  natui'e 


72  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

than  the  slums  of  our  great  cities.  Second,  home  mis- 
sionary work  is  the  best  means  of  settling  a  man's 
head,  and  that  is  a  good  thing  in  this  age  of  scepticism. 
When  a  man  sits  at  lioine  and  reads  attacks  on  Chris- 
tianity, he  may  be  doubtful,  but  when  he  comes  in  con- 
tact with  men,  he  sees  that  there  is  truth  in  this  Chris- 
tianity after  all.  Third,  missionary  work  is  the  best 
means  of  deepening  a  man's  own  spiritual  life.  Any- 
thing that  deepens  a  man's  spiritual  life  is  the*  best 
thing  to  make  him  a  successful  worker.  If  a  man  really 
goes  in  for  mission  w^ork,  he  will  in  all  probability  be 
brought  nearer  to  Christ  than  ever  before.  It  is  only 
when  one  realizes  the  depth  of  misery  caused  by  sin 
that  we  begin  to  see  how  many  evils  the  cross  of  Christ 
can  cure.  My  last  reason  is  that  this  is  the  best  means 
of  touching  those  that  are  hesitating  as  to  the  truth  of 
Christianity.  We  heard  this  morning  true  and  sensible 
words  about  advanced  thought,  and  about  those  who  cast 
in  the  teeth  of  the  church  the  watchword  of  the  enthu- 
siasm of  humanity  (see  Chap.  XII).  When  these  men  see 
that  one  after  another  of  the  best  men  in  their  colleges 
are  giving  some  of  their  time  to  the  raising  of  the  masses 
about  them,  while  they  themselves  talk  vt  ry  much  and  do 
very  little,  they  will  begin  to  think  that  these  Christians 
have  something  they  do  not  have.  They  will  re-examine 
the  evidences  of  Christianity,  and  I  will  be  surprised  if 
they  do  not  determine  that  the  only  place  to  get  real 
enthusiasm  for  humanity  is  at  the  cross  of  Christ. 

C.  E.  Wilson,  of  Cambridge,  said: — ^The  work  in  which 
I  was  engaged  at  Christmas  was  in  the  slums  of  Cam- 
bridge, and  the  body  to  which  I  belonged  was  self-con- 
stituted, and  had  no  connection  with  any  organization  in- 
side of  the  university.  It  followed  three  lines.  We 
used  every  Sunday  evening  to  visit  the  public  houses 


STUDENT  WORK  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  73 

and  induce  tlie  men  by  tracts  and  other  means  to  come 
to  a  building  where  we  gave  them  a  few  addresses. 
Another  work  AA^as  at  a  gas  house,  where  the  men  must 
Avork  on  Sundays  as  well  as  on  other  days.  By  the 
kindness  of  the  manager,  we  were  enabled  to  see  tAvo 
"shifts"  as  they  came  in,  and  thus  to  reach  a  class  of  men 
who  had  no  other  means  of  hearing  the  gospel  preached 
on  Sundays.  The  other  line  of  work  was  house  to  house 
A^sitation  in  the  poor  district.  I  can  imagine  no  better 
means  of  strengthening  Christian  thought  than  b}^  com- 
ing into  actual  contact  with  people  in  all  kinds  of  circum- 
stances. 

I  would  emphasize  two  things ;  first  of  all,  character. 
There  must  be  a  harmony  between  our  words  and  our 
Avorks;  otherAAise  our  preaching  will  be  vain  and  sense- 
less. This  is  a  warning  for  us  all,  against  putting  on  the 
missionary  oa  er  the  man.  The  missionary  must  be  the 
man,  and  the  man  must  be  the  missionary.  The  other 
point  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  doctrine.  We  are  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ,  and  as  such  we  must  go  forth  from  God, 
teaching  notliing  more  than  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cruci- 
fied. Every  great  movement  in  life  centers  around  some 
individual.  I  need  only  refer  you  to  one  noble  character 
who  has  just  passed  from  the  scene  of  his  labors  in  the 
missionary  field,  Father  Damien.  The  great  trait  of  his 
character  was  folloAA'ing  Christ,  not  only  in  word  but  in 
deed.  He  gave  himself,  and  not  a  part  of  himself.  God 
does  not  want  a  part  of  us,  but  the  whole  of  us.  We 
must  give  the  whole  of  ourseh^es  and  nothing  short  of  it. 

Again,  there  is  a  salvation  that  comes  after  we  are 
saved,  a  salvation  from  declining  from  the  position 
which  we  have  taken.  Whatever  our  surroundings, 
temptations  are  bound  to  come  to  us ;  by  our  fidelity  to 
the    truth    Avhich    we    believe    in,    we    shall    indee<l 


T4  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

save  others.  We  must  see  to  it,  lest  we  imagine  that 
mere  organization  is  all  we  have  to  think  of.  But  I  do 
not  believe  for  an  instant  that  organization  m  all  that 
we  here  have  won.  This  convention  would  give  me  the 
lie,  if  I  made  such  a  statement. 

A.  S.  Martin,  of  Edinburgh,  emphasized  the  necessity 
oif  preparation  for  mission  work,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad,  b}^  reference  to  the  association  which  he  repre- 
sented. He  said:  Our  missionary  association  at  Edin- 
boro  is  the  nearest  equivalent  to  your  missionary  com- 
mittee in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  here,  though  not  exactly, 
because  it  includes  missionary  work  at  home.  In  our 
work,  we  recognize  the  necessity  of  preparing  most 
those  members  of  our  society  ^^ho  are  fitting  themselves 
for  the  pastorate,  whether  in  the  home,  in  the  church,  or 
in  the  foreign  field.  We  believe  it  is  our  duty  to  engage 
in  some  sort  of  preparatory  work  which  shall  in  some 
sense  reduce  to  practice  those  lessons  which  we  de- 
rived from  our  professors,  and  counterbalance  the 
tendency  to  run  to  intellectual  work. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  this  work:  home  missionarj^ 
work  in  the  slums  of  the  city,  foreign  missionarj^  work 
amongst  the  aborigines  in  India,  and  special  missionary 
work  among  the  students.  Our  society  for  home  mis- 
sionary work  has  emphasized  the  work  among  the  chil- 
dren of  our  country,  especially  in  the  cities.  We  have 
several  ways  of  reaching  them.  The  most  degraded  and 
neglected  children  are  sent  for  a  week  into  the  country, 
to  what  we  call  a  holiday  home.  Another  means  of  at- 
taining the  same  object  is  to  get  the  children  to  atten<l 
our  churches,  to  get  the  farmers  interested  in  this  work 
of  reclaiming  the  children  by  taking  them  to  the  country 
and  showing  them  what  real  Christian  life  is.  Another 
means  of  attaining  the  same  object  is  to  get  the  children 


STUDENT  WORK  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  T5 

on  Sundays  from  the  streets,  where  the}'  are  cast  forth 
in  the  morning  by  their  parents,  and  keep  them  for  the 
whole  afternoon,  furnishing  them  with  amusement 
suitable  for  the  day,  such  as  dissected  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture. For  the  older  children,  we  take  a  large  black- 
board, and  give  them  different  colored  chalk,  with 
which  they  write  texts. 

The  object  of  our  work  of  preparation  for  missionary 
work  is  to  deepen  the  interest  among  the  students  and 
also  to  deepen  the  general  interest,  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  society  was  instituted  at  a  time  when  missionarj^ 
feeling  was  at  a  low  ebb,  and  it  is  the  oldest  societ}^ 
in  college.  It  has  maintained  its  ground,  and  there  is 
not  now  one  more  flourishing  societ}-.  We  have  re- 
cognized that  the  first  requisite  for  missionary  work  is 
whole  hearted  consecration.  It  is  the  invariable  source 
of  all  loyal  service  for  God  and  Christ,  and  it  is  due  to 
this  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been  in  the  hearts  of  the 
missionarie,^,  wo  iking  in  them  his  own  pleasure,  and  so 
bringing  them  to  his  feet.  I  do  not  need  here  to  empha- 
size that  loyal  and  manly  and  true  hearted  consecration 
to  his  service,  which  alone  can  be  based  on  a  conviction 
of  the  inmost  heart.  But  we  do  not  perhaps  so  fully 
emphasize  the  practical  ideas.  Many  must  be  aware 
that  in  recent  times  a  large  field  has  been  entered  by 
learned  scientists.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  one  looking- 
for  ward  to  the  foreign  field  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of 
such  sciences  as  anthropology  and  comparative  psycho- 
logy. Through  them  he  gets  a  point  of  contact  with  these 
heathen  nations.  During  the  last  twenty  j^ears,  while 
the  missionary  spirit  has  been  at  its  strongest,  our  so- 
ciety has  sent  several  of  the  noblest  men  and  best 
scholars  of  their  day,  men  who,  when  in  college,  devoted 
themselves  to  our  best  missionary  work,  and  who  to- 


76  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

day  are  witnessing  for  their  Master.  They  have  that* 
enthnsiasm  which,  even  to  us,  is  the  great  motive  and 
inspiring  source,  second  to  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
which,  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  shall  cause  us  to 
exhibit  to  the  present  world,  not  a  chivalry  of  humanity, 
but  a  chivalry  which  shall  cause  the  name  of  Our  Lord 
to  resound  from  shore  to  shore,  even  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth. 

E.  A.  Lendrum,  of  Aberdeen,  said:  We  have  a  uni- 
versity of  nearly  a  thousand  students,  but  not  a  very 
large  Christian  Association.  One  chief  circumstance 
which  interferes  with  our  power  is  this:  Aberdeen  is 
a  city  of  granite,  and  a  stranger  says  that  the  Aberdeen- 
ian's  head  and  heart  are  as  hard  as  his  native  stone.  Mr. 
Moody  will  bear  me  out  when  I  say  this  is  not  quite  true, 
but  those  men  who  ought  to  be  in  the  front  in  the  Chris- 
tian Association  are  too  often  found  struggling  with 
those  head  difficulties  which  keep  the  heart  from  sym- 
pathy w  ith  Christianity.  When  our  mutual  friend 
Mr.  Eeynolds  (of  Yale,  studying  in  England,)  was  in  Aber- 
deen, he  was  asked :  "What  do  you  think  is  the  dif- 
ference between  the  religious  life  here  and  that  in 
America?"  "Well,"  said  he,  "I  think  it  is  just  this. 
You  are  perhaps  twenty-five  per  cent,  ahead  of  us  in 
scholarship,  but  we  are  a  millennium  ahead  of  you  in 
organization."  I  don't  know  about  the  scholarship,  but 
there  is  twenty -five  per  cent,  too  much  intellect,  and 
seventy -five  per  cent,  too  little  active,  vivid,  heartfelt, 
enterprising,  confessing  religion.  But  we  find  our  diffi- 
culty is  this.  These  men  are  honest  and  sincere,  but  are 
taken  up  with  intellectual  difficulty. 

Let  me  commend  to  you,  as  a  student  who  has  lived  in 
that  atmosphere,  the  men  in  your  colleges,  who  are  hon- 
estly and  sincerely  trying  to  grapple  with  the  doubts 


STUDENT  WORK  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  77 

that  center  around  the  gi-eat  verities  of  our  faith.  I  fear 
somewhat  that,  if  these  men  had  been  here,  thev  might 
have  been  repelled,  for  I  think  there  has  been  a  tendency 
to  run  down  the  doubter.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to  go 
to  him  and  open  our  hearts  and  lead  him  and  not  fight 
him.  W^e  want  to  get  these  men.  Let  us  deal  with 
them  gently  and  kindly.  If  my  experience  has  taught 
me  anything,  it  has  taught  me  this:  that  a  very  large 
number  of  us  here  ^^-ho  are  undergraduates,  will  yet 
have  to  g-j  through  struggles  and  doubt  ourselves.  We 
cannot  help  it;  1  know  how  it  permeates  the  whole  at- 
mosphere of  m}'  OAvn  native  land,  and  I  cannot  doubt  it 
comes  here  too.  Let  us  not  so  much  denounce  doubt,  as 
go  straightforward  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  knowing 
that,  if  we  do  his  will,  we  shall  know  of  the  doctrine, 
whether  it  be  of  God. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

CLAIMS  OF  THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION  ON 
COLLEGE  GRADUATES— EDWIN  F.  SEE. 


Addresses  by  Mr.  Mornay  Williams,  As  Active  Members— Rev.  David  Allan 
Reed,  As  General  Secretaries— Luther  Gulick,  M.  D..  As  Phys- 
ical  Directors. 

1.      AS  ACTIVE  MEMBERS. 
Aji  address  by  Mr.  Mornay  Williams,  of  New  York. 

Allow  me  to  say  at  the  outset  that  I  would  not  for 
an  instant  be  understood  as  placing  Association  w^ork 
before  the  Tvork  to  be  accomplished  by  every  man  in  his 
owm  church.  But  it  is  not  necessary  in  most  instances 
that  a  man  should  be  limited  to  the  field  of  church 
activity.  His  usefulness  should  outrun  the  lines  of 
the  denomination  with  which  he  is  connected,  and  there 
are  many  si)heres  of  activity  that  must  be  filled  by 
undenominational  workers.  Thus  to  a  very  large  extent 
educational  work  is  best  done  when  it  is  not  sectarian. 
The  Association  affords  the  field  for  just  this  sort  of 
W(n'k.  Has  a  man  a  talent  for  teaching,  or  plans  for 
wider  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  instruction  among 
his  felk/ws  ?  He  will  find  in  the  educational  system 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  a  yet  almost 
undeveloped  field  for  the  exercise  of  all  his  powers. 
Already  there  are  taught  in  the  classes  of  the  Asso- 
ciation throughout  the  country  upwards  of  13,000  stu- 
dents, and  the  work  is  just  at  its  beginning.  In  most 
communities  it  has  no  competitor  in  covering  the  period 
between  the  conclusion  of  the  common  school  course 
and  the  commencement  of  the  specialistic  course;  and 
to  that  vast  body  of  young  men  who  are  compelled  to 


CLAIMS  or  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  79 

devote  the  hours  of  the  day  to  work,  the  evening  classes 
of  the  Association  furnish  the  best,  if  not  the  sole 
means  for  higher  education. 

It  is  possible  to  begin  the  solution  of  some  problems 
in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  classes.  The 
old  ap])rentice  system  is  passing  away  and  it  is  becom- 
ing harder  and  harder  to  get  skilled  workmen.  In 
the  I-ondon  Polytechnic  Institute  there  are  over  10,000 
members  and  over  50  classes  in  polytechnic  lines.  This 
work  is  only  in  its  incipiency  in  the  Y^oung  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  of  this  country.  In  the  Young  Men's 
Institute  of  the  Xew  Y^ork  Association  there  are  car- 
riage building  classes,  drafting  classes,  etc.  In  the 
Brooklyn  Association  among  other  classes  is  one  in 
arclntectural  drawing.  Many  with  talents  which  they 
never  had  the  opportunity  to  improve  or  develop  have 
done  so  through  these  classes  and  have  thus  obtained 
remunerative  situations.  To  direct,  organize  and  stimu- 
late the  growth  of  this  vast  system  is  of  itself  no  incon- 
sidej'able  undertaking,  and  requires  the  best  attention 
of  college-bred  men. 

There  are  other  lines  of  work  wholly  outside  the  Asso- 
ciation building  and  yet  forming  a  part  of  the  Asso- 
ciation activities,  in  which  the  educated  man  will  find 
it  profitable  to  engage.  My  own  special  department  of 
Association  work  is  the  visitation  of  the  sick  in  the 
hospitals  of  New  Y^ork.  One  touches  life  at  more  points 
than  he  would  think  in  such  work  as  this.  In  the  wards 
of  Bellevue  Hospital  you  may  find,  for  instance,  the 
burglar  who  has  resolved  in  the  hospital  to  lead  a 
changed  life.  Here  are  men  w^ho  are  ready  to  hear  the 
gospel.  Y'ou  can  give  a  helping  hand  to  such  men  and 
you  will  mal^e  yourself  better  because  you  have  made 
others  better,  and  attain  the  blessing  of  those  "who 


80  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

win  many  to  righteousness,"  who  "shall  shine  as  the 
stars  forever  and  ever." 

Then  there  is  the  work  of  the  invitation,  reception, 
church  and  other  committees,  whose  duties  are  indi- 
cated by  their  names,  and  vary  according  to  location. 
As  college  gi-aduates  you  can  meet  men  socially  in  this 
channel  and  give  them  the  attrition  of  your  mind.  "  As 
iron  sharpeneth  iron;  so  a  man  sharpeneth  the  counte- 
nance of  his  friend."  You  will  lose  some  of  your  uncon- 
scious prejudices  when  jo\i  meet  others  in  this  w^ay ;  you 
will  be  broader  men.  You  will  understand  better  some 
things  that  seem  ominous  now, — ^how  the  working  classes 
feel,  the  wrongs  which  they  think  they  have ;  and  you  can 
meet  ^vith  them,  counsel  them,  and  draw  them  nearer 
to  Christ. 

For  above  all  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
is  the  channel  for  blessed  work  in  leading  men  to  Christ. . 
Educational  work  is  comparatively  useless  unless  it 
leads  to  that.  It  is  the  privilege  which  we  ought  to 
value  above  all  others,  to  lead  men  to  Christ.  When 
John  Selden  lay  dying,  he  turned  to  his  friend.  Arch- 
bishop Usher  (the  man  to  whom  we  owe  the  chronology 
of  the  Bible)  and  said :  "  I  have  read  many  books  in 
my  life,  but  I  never  found  any  more  comforting  w^ords 
than  these:  ^The  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation 
hath  appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  us  that,  denying 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly, 
righteously^,  and  godly  in  this  present  world;  looking- 
for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the 
great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.'" 

This  then  is  the  end  of  all  your  college  course  and 
of  all  you  hope  to  attain,  that  the  grace  of  God  hatli 
appeared  in  Christ  who  did  not  despise  taking  on  our 
form  and  lifting  us  up  to  a  higher  plane,  so  that,  ''when 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  81 

He  Cometh,  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him 
as  He  is/'  and  that  having  served  our  generation  we 
may  pass  to  rest.  "  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be 
ye  steadfast,  unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor 
is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

Mr.  David  McConaughy,  Jr. — We  have  a  committee 
of  resident  alumni  in  Philadelphia  forming  a  branch 
of  the  local  Association,  to  advise  with  the  Associa- 
tion of  college  students  in  our  city. 

Mr.  Wm.  D.  Murray. — College  men  are  of  special 
use  in  our  literary  societies.  As  teachers  of  our  train- 
ing classes  they  are  much  better  than  other  men,  other 
things  being  equal.  In  these  classes  the  college  grad- 
uate may  be  of  special  service  in  teaching  how  to  deal 
with  the  sceptical. 

Mr.  John  L.  Wenzel — College  men  are  speciallj^  use- 
ful on  the  reception  committee.  Men  with  trained 
minds  usually  have  more  tact  and  are  better  conver- 
sationalists than  others.  We  want  leaders  in  the  Asso- 
ciation to-day,  and  college  men  make  the  best  leaders. 

Mr.  George  A.  Hall — A  college  man  might  often 
organize  an  Association  where  there  is  an  opening  for 
one. 

Mr.  Frank  W.  Ober — The  junior  department  offers 
a  great  opportunity  for  the  college  man.  One  could 
give  two  or  three  evenings  a  week  advantageously  to 
this  branch  of  the  work  and  leave  a  marked  impression. 

Question  :  Can  committee  work  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  be  done  by  those  who  are  engaged 
in  business  ? 

Mr.  David  McConaughy,  Jr. — All  our  committee 
work  is  the  evening  labor  of  men  very  busy  in  the  day 
time. 


82  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Question :  Do  not  the  secular  agencies  of  the  Asso- 
ciation interfere  witli  the  sj^iritual  work  ? 

Mr.  George  A.  Hall — Twent^^-one  years'  experience 
has  taught  me  that  they  do  not  interfere  with  but  rather 
promote  the  spiritual  work. 

Question  :  How  are  the  college  graduates  in  our  cities 
to  be  enlisted  ? 

Mr.  James  McConaughy — The  names  of  college  grad- 
uates who  go  to  New  York  or  any  large  city  should  be 
sent  to  the  Association  within  whose  province  they 
move.  If  these  men  could  be  properly  approached  at 
the  start  and  shown  how  they  could  be  useful,  more  of 
them  would  go  into  the  w^ork. 

II.      AS  GENERAL  SECRETARIES. 
An  address  by  the  Rev.  David  Allan  Reed,  President  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  Training  School,  Springfield,  Mass. 

This  field  of  work  is  so  great  that  it  demands  the 
lives  of  college  men.  Is  the  general  secretaryship  some- 
thing then  that  a  college  man  can  give  his  whole  life 
to?  Is  it  not  a  work  in  which  he  can  be  of  use  only 
while  he  is  a  young  man  ?  The  last  is  a  common  impres- 
sion, but  a  false  one.  There  is  no  "  dead  line  "  here  as  in 
the  Christian  ministry,  so  long  as  he  is  in  sympathy 
with  young  men  and  continues  always  to  have  a  love 
for  them.  At  fifty  or  sixty  he  is  better  able  to  do  his 
work  than  ever  before.  To  a  faithful  man  it  is  more 
a  life  work  than  the  ministry. 

But  some  men  will  say,  "  I  must  have  enough  to  sup- 
port myself."  It  is  right  to  look  at  this  point,  for  on  that 
depends  in  a  large  measure  a  man's  usefulness.  The 
general  secretary,  however,  receives  a  larger  remunera- 
tion on  an  average  than  the  minister  of  the  gospel.  So 
far  as  financial  support  is  concerned,  he  is  in  a  better 
condition  than  the  preacher. 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  83 

Tlie  time  was  when  if  a  man  had  piety,  was  a  good 
leader  in  prayer,  and  had  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures,  he  might  be  a  good  general  secretar3\  These 
qualifications  are  not  sufficient  now.  These  are  neces- 
sary, but  he  must  have  more  if  he  would  be  successful. 
He  must  be  strong  in  brain,  muscle  and  heart — a  well- 
rounded  man.  He  must  meet  intellectual,  social  and 
financial  problems. 

He  must  have  the  ability  to  lead,  rie  must  be  able 
to  manage  business  affairs,  for  much  business  comes 
to  him  that  cannot  go  to  the  board  of  directors.  He 
must  be  a  leader,  physically,  intellectually  and  spirit- 
ually, if  he  would  reach  the  men  who  come  into  his 
hands  as  into  the  hands  of  no  other  living  man.  He 
needs  a  variety  of  qualifications  that  no  other  man  needs 
so  much. 

College  men  have  the  qualifications  which  will  fit 
them  for  this  work.  Not  that  every  man  who  grad- 
uates from  college  can  fit  himself  for  this  work  any 
more  than  for  the  medical  or  legal  profession ;  but  other 
things  being  equal,  tact,  leadership,  and  a  warm  heart, 
are  better  with  education  than  without  education.  As 
the  Lord  used  an  educated  apostle  for  His  greatest 
work,  so  we  must  depend  for  the  future  on  men  educated 
and  trained  in  our  colleges  to  do  the  greatest  work  in 
this  department. 

The  legal  profession  is  full,  the  medical  profession  is 
full,  the  teachers'  positions  are  occupied,  and  some  men 
do  not  feel  called  to  the  ministry.  There  is  only  one 
reason  why  a  man  having  the  proper  qualifications 
should  not  be  a  general  secretary,  and  that  is  an  imper- 
ative caU  to  the  ministry.  There  is  a  demand  for  men 
in  this  as  in  no  other  line.  Over  $50,000  are  now  in 
the  hands  of  business  men  to  pay  the  salaries  of  gen- 


84  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

eral  secretaries,  but  the  men  are  not  ready.  There  is 
a  demand  to-day  for  at  least  300  men.  Vet  there  are 
young  men  who  say,  ^'Christ  bought  me  with  his  own 
blood ;  but  can't  I  crowd  into  the  law  or  medicine  and 
turn  my  back  on  this  opportunity  while  young  men  are 
dying?" 

The  opportunity  is  yours,  and  if  you  reject  it,  you 
will  reject  it  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  thousands  of 
young  men  need  your  help. 

Mr.  David  McConaughy,  Jr. — It  seems  to  me  that 
the  secretaryship  is  one  branch  of  the  ministry.  I  re- 
ceived the  thought  of  becoming  a  minister  from  my 
mother,  and  looked  forward  during  my  early  life  with 
joy  to  that  work,  but  God  pointed  out  the  secretary- 
ship to  me,  and  in  it  I  believe  I  am  giving  my  life  to 
the  ministry.  My  pulpit  is  sometimes  on  the  athletic 
held,  or  in  the  store,  or  in  the  shop,  as  well  as  in  the 
gospel  meeting. 

Mr.  xV.  A  Stagg — The  college  man  has  a  strong  hold 
on  young  men  by  reason  of  his  social  training.  He 
knows  hoAv  to  appreciate  them.  He  is  brought  into 
earnest  sympathy  with  his  classmates  and  learns  to 
get  close  to  them,  and  this  experience  serves  him  well 
in  after  life. 

Mr.  James  McConaughy — There  are  two  respects 
in  which  my  college  training  has  helped  me  as  gen- 
eral secretary.  It  taught  me  to  be  systematic,  and  that 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  secretaryship.  It  gave 
me  a  mental  training  which  has  helped  me  in  the  teach- 
ing of  Bible  classes.  It  gave  me  more  sympathy  with 
men  in  their  athletic  sports  and  various  lines  of  activity. 

Mr.  K.  S.  Miller,  Jr.— Before  going  into  this  work 
I  consulted  with  the  pastors  of  churches  and  they  said 
the  most  important  work  of  the  church  was  to  secure 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  85 

young  men.  They  said  they  were  not  reaching  them. 
It  seemed  to  me  to  be  my  duty  to  help  in  this  work. 
The  question  next  arose  in  my  mind  whether  I  was 
throwing  my  time  away  by  engaging  in  this  work,  but 
now  that  I  see  the  possibilities  and  the  influence  of  the 
Associations,  that  question  has  gone  to  the  winds. 

Mr.  J.  Trumbull  SAvift — College  men  do  not  enter 
the  secretaryshij)  because  they  do  not  know  what  it  is. 
Some  do  not  like  to  devote  themselves  to  it  simply 
because  it  is  the  general  secretaryship  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  When  approached  to 
enter  this  work  I  learned  with  astonishment  that  it  was 
one  to  wliich  I  might  give  up  my  life.  It  is  a  broad  and 
useful  field  and  college  men  are  best  fitted  for  it. 

Mr.  George  A.  Hall— The  general  secretary's  work 
is  to  be  an  assistant  to  every  pastor  in  his  vicinity. 
He  must  rally  the  young  men  for  the  churches. 

Question:  Does  the  general  secretary  give  his  entire 
time  to  the  work? 

Mr.  J.  R.  Mott — Yes;  I  never  knew  a  secretary  yet 
Avho  caught  up  with  his  work. 

Question:  How  large  a  district  can  one  secretary 
occupy? 

Mr.  J.  R.  Mott — One  city  or  town. 

Question:  How  old  must  a  secretary  be  upon  enter- 
ing his  work? 

Mr.  George  A.  Hall — Xot  over  thirty  and  at  least 
eighteen. 

Question:  Would  it  be  well  for  a  man  to  go  into  the 
secretaryship  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years  with  the  in- 
tention of  entering  the  ministry  after  that  time  ? 

Mr.  George  A.  Hall— It  would  be  good  for  the  pul- 
pit but  hard  on  the  Association.  Yet  not  a  few  have 
pursued  this  course. 


86  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

III.      AS   PHYSICAL   DIRECTORS. 

An  address  by  Luther  Gulick,   M,  T>  ,  Director  of  Physical  Depart- 
ment. 

Man  is  a  unit.  His  capacities  are  very  much  greater 
than  simply  the  sum  of  those  of  the  body  alone,  plus  those 
of  the  mind  alone,  plus  those  of  the  soul  by  itself.  That 
is,  each  one  gives  to  the  others  not  only  all  that  it  has 
itself,  but  also  enables  the  others  to  be  and  to  do  far 
more  than  they  could  alone.  Man  might  be  called  the 
product  of  the  three,  rather  than  their  sum.  I  recog- 
nize the  difficulty  of  viewing  the  subject  from  this  stand- 
point, but  unless  we  do  we  will  be  apt  to  go  entirely 
astray. 

From  a  scientific  standpoint,  the  Associations  have  a' 
very  valuable  foundation  for  their  work  in  the  fact  that 
they  are  worlving  for  young  men ;  not  simpl}^  for  their 
bodies,  minds  and  souls,  but  for  the  salvation,  develop- 
ment and  training  of  the  whole  man  comj)lete  as  God 
made  him.  While  we  recognize  of  course  that  the  intel- 
lectual is  far  more  valuable  than  the  physical,  and  that 
the  spiritual  is  of  infinitely  more  value  than  both,  still 
we  see  the  fundamental  necessity  of  all  three,  and  work 
for  the  development  of  man  as  a  whole. 

And  what  is  true  of  man — that  he  is  more  than  the 
sum  of  his  body,  mind  and  soul — is  true  of  our  Asso- 
ciation. Our  work  cannot  be  represented  by  the  physi- 
cal, plus  the  intellectual,  plus  the  social,  plus  the  spirit- 
ual, each  one  standing  alone ;  for  the  relations  that 
exist  between  them  render  each  far  more  valuable  than 
it  would  be  by  itself.  It  is  by  means  of  the  physical 
that  the  men  are  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 
spiritual,  and  it  is  the  spiritual  that  teaches  men  that 
their  bodies  are  sacred  to  noble  ends,  and  that  the 
gymnasium  is  one  of  the  means  to  the  accomplishment 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  87 

of  those  ends.  ^Ye  not  only  secure  all  the  inherent 
value  of  our  physical  department,  but  by  virtue  of  its 
relation  to  the  others  we  also  secure  that  which  is  of 
far  greater  value,  and  so  the  total  of  our  results  is 
greater  than  the  sum  of  those  of  each  department.  In 
this  way  we  see  the  fallacy  of  employing  men  for  single 
departments,  for  unless  they  recognize  and  work  for 
the  results  that  come  through  these  relationships,  they 
will  be  missing  the  larger  part  of  the  results.  Thus  a 
physical  director  who  is  simply  a  physical  director  is 
losing  the  greatest  part  of  his  opportunities,  i.  e.,  those 
that  come  through  the  relationships  that  exist  between 
the  physical  and  the  other  departments. 

And  so  we  have  our  gymnasiums,  our  educational 
classes,  libraries,  reading  rooms,  and  our  religious 
work,  a  unit  in  conception,  a  complete  rounded  whole, 
that  is  invaluable  now  and  gives  promise  of  becoming, 
in  the  hands  of  God,  the  means  of  good  far  beyond 
our  present  thought. 

A  physical  director  must  be  a  man  who  understands 
man  and  not  mere  physiology  and  anatomy.  To  teach 
gymnastics  is  only  a  little  part  of  what  he  is  to  do.  In 
reaching  young  men  there  are  several  steps  for  him 
to  take.  First:  Go  where  young  men  are.  They  are 
notably  not  in  the  churches,  but  they  are  in  the  ath- 
letic field.  Second:  Establish  a  line  of  communication 
between  himself  and  young  men.  Have  some  common 
ground  to  start  from.  Third:  Go  among  them  and  get 
their  respect  and  confidence.  Fourth:  Win  their  love. 
This  is  one  of  the  greatest  things. 

If  there  Avere  time  we  might  speak  of  the  wide  field 
that  is  afforded  in  this  profession  for  medical  men.  In 
this  respect  there  is  a  Avide  field  here  practically  unde- 
veloped. 


88  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

An  addi-ess  by  Mr.  William  Blalkie,  of  New  York. 

Tlie  Americans  as  a  people  have  failed  to  educate 
themselves  bodily.  The  gymnasiums  do  not  furnish  all 
the  education  needed  in  this  line,  but  we  need  an  in- 
structor in  the  gymnasiums  as  much  as  in  the  school. 
The  result  of  undirected  training  in  the  gymnasium  is 
to  make  the  students  disgusted  with  the  whole  thing 
after  a  single  trial.  American  athletes  who  are  trained 
for  special  work  in  one  department  of  bodily  develop- 
ment are  unexcelled  by  those  of  any  other  time  or 
country.  Compare  the  case  of  Rowell,  who  covered 
150  miles  in  24  hours,  with  the  historical  incident  of  the 
journey  of  Philippedes,  the  Greek,  who  ran  148  miles 
from  Athens  to  Sparta  in  48  hours.  When  a  test  is 
to  be  made  a  man  or  a  horse  must  be  in  condition,  and 
this  requires  preparatory  training  in  the  line  of  the  same 
thing. 

One  of  the  first  things  a  man  will  ask  concerning  the 
occupation  of  the  physical  director  is,  "Will  it  bring 
a  man  a  living?"  Nearly  95  per  cent,  of  this  audience 
will  enter  commercial  or  professional  life,  no  line  in 
which  will  command  on  the  average  as  large  remunera- 
tion as  a  i^hy^ical  directorship.  It  is  certainly  doing 
a  great  work  for  young  men  when  we  develop  their 
bodies.  But  when  we  can  through  this  work  assist  in 
the  development  of  men's  spiritual  natures,  the  field 
becomes  unlimited  in  its  possibilities. 


CHAPTER  Vin. 

DLT\    OP  CHRISTIANS  TO  UNEVANGELIZED  YOUXG  MEX. 

Eelation  of  the  Youns  iNIen's  Cliristian  Association  to  the  Young  Men  of 
Unevangelized  Lands  Stated  by  Mr,  David  :McConaughy,  Jr.,  Phila- 
delphia's General  Secretary— Force  Back  of  the  VoLmteer  ^Movement 
—Responsibility  of  Christian  Young  Men  Great  because  Tliey  are 
Young,  English-Speaking,  Americans— Unique  Position  of  Volun- 
teers in  American  Group  of  Association  Movement— Association 
Traced  to  its  Origin— Field  before  the  Movement— Number,  Needs, 
Temptations,  Influence,  Youth  of  the  Men  to  be  Reached— Dr.  Ja- 
cob Chambei'lain  on  the  Work  in  Madras— Relations  of  the  Force  to 
the  field— Necessity  of  Unpatronizing  Brotherhood— Unselfish  Liber- 
ality-Wisdom in  Adapting  Methods  to  Conditions— Tlieir  Attitude 
Must  be  One  of  Faith,  Hope  and  Love. 

An  unparalleled  opportunity  now^  opening  before  the 
Cliristian  young  men  of  America  entails  an  unparalleled 
responsibility.  Look,  first  of  all,  at  the  force  back  of 
the  movement. 

Our  responsibility  is  great  because  w^e  are  young  men. 
The  scene  upon  this  hallowed  hill-top  recalls  another 
on  a  grassy  slope  of  the  law^n  at  Tunbridge  Hall,  the 
home  of  that  true  English  nobleman,  Samuel  Morley. 
The  delegates  to  the  AA^orld's  Conference  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  held  in  London  in  '81,  had 
been  invited  there  to  spend  a  bright  summer's  day.  In 
the  center  of  a  group  of  young  men  gathered  from  every 
part  of  Europe  and  America,  stood  a  patriarch  whose 
long,  white  hair  and  snowy  beard  flowing  to  his  waist, 
had  been  bleached  by  the  tropical  sun  of  Africa.  It 
w^as  Robert  Moffatt.  His  life  work  done,  he  was  there 
at  eventide  waiting  the  summons  of  the  King.  Since 
then  Robert  Moffatt  and  Samuel  Morley  both  have 
gone  home,  but  we,  the  young  men  w^ho  gathered  around 
them  that  day,  remain  to  take  up  their  responsibilities 

89 


DO  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

and  to  seize  the  opportunities  put  within  our  reach 
by  such  heroic  lives  as  theirs.  John  wrote,  "Unto  you, 
young  men,  because  ye  are  strong  and  the  Word  of  G  od 
abideth  in  you  and  ye  have  overcome  the  wicked  one; 
but  not  only  are  we  strong,  but  we  are  also  free — not 
rooted  to  the  soil,  like  full-grown  trees,  with  ties  of 
family  and  cares  of  business  and  professional  life,  but 
rather  like  sai)lings,  readily  transplanted  to  take  root  in 
other  fields."  It  is  true,  as  Disraeli  wrote,  ''The  history 
of  heroes  is  the  history  of  youth."  Our  very  youth  entails 
tremendous  responsibility  upon  us. 

Our  responsibility  is  greater  because  we  are  Eugiish- 
gpeaking  young  men.  The  vehicle  of  our  thoughts 
traverses  a  vastly  larger  sphere  of  influence  than  did 
the  Greek  tongue  when  Paul  was  heralding  the  Word 
of  salvation  throughout  the  Roman  Avorld.  Joseph  Cook 
needs  no  interpreter  as  he  speaks  in  English  to  Hindu 
audiences  that  crowd  the  largest  halls.  The  tongue  we 
speak  is  taught  in  the  government  schools  of  India 
and  Japan,  and  is  being  intro(luce<l,  experimentally 
at  least,  in  China.  Our  English  tongue  entails  tremen- 
dous responsibility  upon  us. 

Our  responsibility  is  yet  greater  in  that  we  are  Amer- 
ican English-speaking  3^oung  men.  As  such,  we  are 
unhampered  by  political  complications  that  ma}^  em- 
barrass those  of  other  nations  ;  we  are  free  from  the 
military  service  and  the  restrictions  of  jjoverty  that 
might,  in  other  countries,  keep  the  young  men  at  home. 
We  are  not  liable  to  meet  the  prejudices  that  might 
hinder  those  whose  government  holds  subject  by  force 
of  arms  those  who  are  to  be  evangelized  by  the  gospel 
of  peace  ;  neither  are  we  repressed  or  hampered  by  a 
State  Church  subject  to  peculiar  limitations.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  have  a  i)restige  prouder  than  was  ever 


THE  DUTY  OF  CHRISTIANS.  91 

involved  in  tliat  passport  of  Paul,  "  Romanus  Civis  Sum," 
with  which  he  pressed  his  way  through  his  smaller  world- 
wide field.  In  a  monastery  in  the  heart  of  Russia,  last 
summer,  the  announcement  that  I  was  an  American 
brought  the  patriarchal  blessing  of  the  old  treasurer  of 
St.  Simonoff  upon  my  head,  unasked.  Our  American 
citizenship  entails  tremendous  responsibility  upon  ns. 

But  our  responsibilitj^  is  all  the  greater  in  view  of 
our  unique  position  in  the  American  group  of  the 
Association  movement.  The  place  assigned  us  is  at  the 
head  of  the  advancing  column — a  post  of  peril,  if  we 
halt  or  falter,  while  "  God  is  with  us  for  our  Captain," 
leading  on.  It  is  a  crisis.  Much  depends  upon  our 
undei's  tan  ding  the  situation ;  the  opportunities  before 
us,  the  responsibilities  upon  us.  Let  us  take  time  to 
trace  G-od's  hand  unfolding  this  part  of  his  great  plan 
for  the  world's  redemption. 

Trace  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  move- 
ment back  to  its  source,  and  you  find  it  in  the  thought 
of  God,  whose  thoughts  are  not  as  ours.  It  would  not 
have  been  man's  method  to  have  chosen  a  poor  boy,  in 
an  obscure  country  town,  without  much  education  or 
money  or  influence,  to  become  the  projector  of  a  move- 
ment which  within  his  own  lifetime  should  extend 
throughout  all  the  earth.  But  it  was  in  line  with  the 
method  of  Him  who  hath  "chosen  the  weak  things  of 
the  world  to  confound  the  things  that  are  mighty."  It 
was  in  line  with  his  plan  to  reserve  this  mighty  spiritual 
force  until  this  century  of  invention  when  He  was  reveal- 
ing the  secrets  of  new  and  mighty  physical  forces  in  the 
world.  It  was  in  line  with  his  plan  to  originate  the 
movement  from  a  city  center — the  world's  metropolis. 
All  this  has  upon  it  the  marks  of  being  part  of  a  divine 
and  therefore  permanent  institution,  rather  than  of  a 


92  COLLEGE >0F  COLLEGES. 

human  and  therefore  temporary  invention.  It  was  not 
made;  it  grew — an  organism,  not  a  mechanism.  No 
sooner  had  the  seed-thought  found  lodgment  in  the  heart 
of  George  Williams  and  sprung  up  in  that  first  Associa- 
tion formed  in  London  forty-five  years  ago,  than  the 
movement  which  had  thus  taken  root  on  British  soil  was 
transplanted  to  our  shores,  where  it  was  destined  to  de- 
velop into  vast  proportions.  If  England  has  the  high 
honor  of  the  origin  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, to  America  belong  the  privilege  of  its  develop- 
ment and  the  responsibility  of  its  dissemination.  I 
say  this  not  to  glorify  America,  but  rather  to  glorify 
God  by  intensifying  the  sense  of  America's  responsi- 
bility to  God  in  fulfilling  this  great  commission.  It  was 
an  American  student,  George  M.  Vanderlip,  of  the  U,ni- 
versity  of  New  York,  who  in  June,  1850,  while  visit- 
ing in  London,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  "Watchman  and 
Reflector,'^  of  Boston,  describing  that  first  Association  in 
London,  thus  leading  to  the  organization  of  the 
Association  first  in  Boston  and  then  tliroughout  our 
land.  Then  followed  the  period  of  development,  through 
which  the  movement  passed  and  emerged  into  its  divinely 
destined  and  clearly  defined  sphere.  It  proved  not  to 
be  an  auxiliary  to — much  less  a  substitute,  in  any  sense, 
for — the  church ;  not  undenominational,  but  interdenom- 
inational; not  apart  from,  but  a  part  of  the  church  of 
Christ — in  short,  the  church  at  work  for  young  men 
by  young  men.  If  the  secrets  of  its  success  are  sought, 
they  are  not  far  to  find.  The  Association  has  shown 
the  staunchest  loyalty  to  the  divine  person  of  Jesus 
Christ — our  model;  to  the  inspired  Word  of  Jesus  Christ 
— our  manual;  to  the  universal  church  of  Jesus  Christ — 
our  communion;  and  to  its  definite  sphere  of  work  for 
young  men  by  young  men — our  object.    Tenacious  as  it 


THE  DUTY  OF  CHRISTIANS.  93 

has  been  in  its  loyalty  to  these  principles,  it  has  also  de- 
monstrated the  broadest  catholicity  in  its  methods, 
adapting  itself  readily  to  the  four-fold  needs  of  a  young 
man's  nature,  physical,  intellectual,  social  and  si)irit- 
ual;  adapting  itself  to  all  classes  in  the  community,  not 
only  of  all  social  grades,  but  of  all  occupations — rail- 
road-men, miners,  lumber-men,  students,  all — and  of  all 
nationalities — German,  French,  Italian,  Indian,  all: 
proving  itself  adaptable,  likewise,  to  young  men  of  all  na- 
tions, kindreds,  peoples  and  tongues.  A  city  of  refuge  for 
all  young  men,  it  ''  lietli  four-square."  Growing  from  a 
mustard  seed,  transplanted  to  our  shores,  it  has  here 
matured  into  a  mighty  tree,  attained  its  climax  in  the 
college  department  and  flowered  out  into  the  Mission- 
ary movement  for  the  dissemination  of  its  seed- 
thoughts  everywhere.  At  length  the  fullness  of  time  is 
come  to  carry  this  movement  far  and  wide  throughout 
the  world.  Again  God  calls  upon  college  men  to  be 
the  couriers. 

How"  history  repeats  itself !  As  in  the  first  century 
of  the  church  of  Christ,  that  band  of  young  men  who 
gathered  around  the  Young  Man  of  Nazareth,  were  of 
humble  circumstances,  from  the  commercial  class, 
not  highly  educated,  but  willing  to  be  separate,  band- 
ing themselves  together  for  prayer,  Bible  study  and  asso- 
ciated efforts  for  others;  so,  again,  in  this  latest  century, 
just  such  young  men  were  George  ^Yilliams,  Edward 
Beaumont,  James  Smith  and  the  others  of  that  little 
band  who  formed  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation in  the  bed-room  of  the  junior  assistant  in  the 
dry-goods  house  of  Hitchcock  &  Co.,  St.  Paul's  Church- 
yard, London,  on  the  sixth  of  June,  1844. 

Among  the  young  men  attracted  to  the  religious 
centre  of  the  ancient  world,  the  metropolis  of  the  He- 


94  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

brew  nation,  were  certain  Greeks,  who  coming  in  con- 
tact with  that  earlier  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion— the  Captain's  own  body-guard  and  the  original 
nucleus  of  his  church — i^ersonally  carried  back  to  their 
own  land  across  the  seas  in  Europe  the  thought, 
which  some  ^^ears  afterwards  voiced  itself  in  the  cry 
of  the  man  of  Macedonia,  ^' Come,  over  and  help  us;" 
so  among  the  3'oung  men  attracted  to  the  commercial 
centre  of  the  modern  Avorld,  were  certain  American 
students,  who  were  drawn  to  this  later  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  which  started  from  the  metrop- 
olis of  the  Anglo-Saxon  people,  and  catching  the 
thought  of  associated  effort  for  young  men,  carried  it 
across  the  sea  to  their  native  land  an<l  ours. 

When  that  earlier  young  men's  movement  had  once 
become  established  where  it  began,  then  a  young  man 
was  raised  up,  who,  though  of  the  Hebrew  race,  was 
born  in  Cilicia,  where  he  came  in  contact  with  men 
of  various  nationalities ;  spoke  the  Greek  language, 
then  current  throughout  the  world;  himself  a  college- 
bred  man,  familiar  with  the  Western  learning  of  the 
University  of  Tarsus ;  and  Paul  carried  the  movement 
over  into  Europe.  So  when  the  young  men's  movement 
of  this  century  had  attained  fixe'1  form  and  become 
firmly  established,  then  a  large  body  of  organized  Chris- 
tian college  young  men,  is  raised  up,  of  the  Anglo-Amer- 
ican stock,  to  be  the  divinely  appointed  agent  to  carry 
the  gospel  throughout  this  larger  world  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  This  body  of  American  college  men 
had  its  faithful  leader  and  organizer  in  Mr.  L.  I).  Wish- 
ard,  and  he  has  now  gone  forth  as  a  leader  on  the  foreign 
tiehl  itself. 

It  needs  no  flight  of  fancy  to  trace  the  finger  of  God 
writing  upon  the  walls  of  our  times,  spelling  out  for 


THE  DUTY  OF  CHRISTIANS.  95 

lis  the  philosophy  of  this  history.  The  movement  com- 
mences among  young  men  of  the  commercial  class, 
lest  it  should  prove  to  be  ''  foolishness  unto  the  Greeks," 
for  "  not  many  wise  men  after  the  ilesh,  not  many  mighty, 
not  many  noble,  are  called,"  that  "  no  flesh  should  glory 
in  his  presence;"  but,  when  once  established,  it  is  com- 
mitted to  college  men — of  that  first  generation  in  Asia,  of 
this  generation  in  America — to  cany  the  gospel  to  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  The  logic  of  events  is 
plain.  College  men  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  carry  for- 
ward such  a  movement.  They  are  in  a  position  to  carry 
it  farther,  for  they  are  gathered  together  at  fixed  points 
for  a  little  time  and  then  are  scattered  everywhere; 
they  can  carry  it  faster,  for,  as  they  scatter  everywhere, 
they  are  inevitably  thrown  among  all  classes;  and  they 
can  carry  it  more  faithfully,  because  better  equipped 
and  trained  to  be  leaders. 

I  ask  you  now  to  turn  from  the  force  back  of  the 
movement  to  look  for  a  little  at  the  field  before  the 
movement.    ''  The  field  is  the  world." 

It  is  self-evident  that  the  conditions  requiring  the 
work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association — all 
of  them — exist  in  intenser  degree  in  unevangelized  lands 
than  here. 

The  number  of  the  young  men  is  vastly  greater.  It  is 
impossible  to  grasp  the  idea  of  more  than  two  hundred 
millions  of  young  men.  The  field  in  Philadeli)hia,  wMch 
I  am  about  to  leave,  second  to  none  on  this  continent  for 
Association  work,  contains  two  hundred  thousand  young 
men,  mostly  native;  but,  in  Asia  to  which  I  am  going, 
more  than  two  hundred  times  two  hundred  thousand 
3'oung  men  are  calling,  "Come  over  and  help  us."  Yet 
these  are  but  a  fraction  of  those  multitudes  upon  multi- 
tudes that  are   surging   across  the   ocean  of  time  and 


96  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

breaking  on  the  shores  of  eternity  at  the  rate  of  one 
hundred  thousand  a  day,  in  one  long,  helpless  wail, 
wrung  from  immortal  souls,  dwarfed  by  ignorance  and 
false  faiths  and  servile  libor,  "  without  God  and  having 
no  hope  in  the  world." 

Their  need,  too,  is  so  much  greater.  Their  condition 
is  substantially  as  described  in  the  first  chapter  of  Eo- 
mans.  If  we  take  alarm  at  the  statement  that  in  this 
Christian  country  "  seventy -five  out  of  every  hundred 
young  men  do  not  attend  church,  ninety-five  of  every 
hundred  do  not  belong  to  the  church  an<l  ninety-seven 
of  every  hundred  are  carrying  no  cross  and  bearing  no 
burden  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  to  Christ,"  how 
much  more  fearful  is  the  fact  that  in  the  unevangelized 
lands  not  more  than  one  in  four  thousand  is  a  professed 
Christian,  and  only  a  few  millions  have  any  church  at 
all  to  attend. 

Their  temptations  are  far  fiercer,  less  fortified  though 
they  are  against  them.  Seven  of  every  ten  in  China, 
Dr.  Hudson  Taylor  says,  are  opium  eaters.  In  Africa 
and  in  India  and  elsewhere,  they  are  being  debauched 
by  strong  drink  imported  from  Christian  nations  !  Li- 
centiousness is  almost  universal. 

Their  influence  is  an  incomparably  more  powerful 
factor  than  that  of  young  men  here.  In  view  of  woman's 
inferior  position,  the  men  have  a  paramount  influ- 
ence in  the  home,  which  is  at  the  base  of  all  society. 

Their  youth  is  the  only  time  in  life  that  offers  any 
hope  of  reaching  them.  If  the  fact  that  here  in  the 
West  only  one  in  ten  becomes  a  Christian  after  twenty 
years  of  age,  is  accounted  for  by  the  growing  conser- 
vatism of  advancing  years,  what  shall  we  expect  in  the 
face  of  the  conservatism  in  the  East  ?  "  Remember  now 
thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,"  was  well  said, 


THE  DUTY  OF  CHRISTIANS.  97 

for  experience  shows  that  as'a  rule  it  is  ''  now  "  or  never. 
If  the  young  men  of  the  Orient  are  not  reached  in  the 
days  of  their  youth,  it  is  certain  that  they  will  not  be 
reached  at  all. 

A  glance  at  the  field  before  the  movement  will 
show  that  the  fullness  of  time  is  come  I  "  Say  not  ye, 
there  are  yet  four  months  and  then  cometh  hardest ? 
Behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on 
the  fields;  for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest." 
Every  barrier  is  down.  Every  door  is  open.  God's 
voice  is  calling. 

Behold  Japan  rallying  under  the  leadership  of  Swift, 
responding  to  the  call  of  Wisliard,  and  two  Association 
buildings  rising  this  year  in  the  capital  city  of  Tokyo. 

Hark  to  the  increasing  call  that  comes  from  India ! 
I  quote  from  a  letter  received  some  months  since  from 
Dr.  Jacob  Chamberlain,  of  Madanapalle,  who  on  this 
platform  two  years  ago  pleaded  the  cause  of  India's 
young  men,  and  then  retui-ned  to  India  to  plead  it 
there  : 

"  The  welcome  given  me  by  the  missionaries  at  Mad- 
ras was  exceedingly  cordial  and  gratifying.  I  pictured 
to  them  India's  educated  yonng  men  deprived  of  their 
ancient  faith,  running  off  into  infidelity,  rationalism 
and  agnosticism,  and  we  failing  to  reach  them  for 
Christ.  I  spoke  of  the  splendid  work  of  America's 
young  men  for  their  unconverted  brothers,  of  our  con- 
versations at  Northfield,  and  of  the  call  there  issued  to 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  America  to 
spring  to  the  front  in  behalf  of  their  Asiatic  non-Chris- 
tian brothers,  of  the  responses  given,  and  of  the  desire 
this  new  enthusiasm  should  take  practical  shape,  i 
have  never  witnessed  a  more  enthusiastic  meeting  in 
Madras.    One  after  another  of  the  members,  each  of 


08  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

a  (liiferent  denomination,  spoke  in  the  strongest  terms 
of  the  need  of  just  snch  a  movement,  and  of  the  extreme 
opportuneness  of  it  now.  The  action  taken  was  enthusi- 
astic and  unanimous.  A  strong  representative  com- 
mittee was  ai>pointed  to  draw  up  a  minute  and  reso- 
lutions. The  committee  represented  the  Churcli  of  Eng- 
land, Scotch  Presbyterians,  English  Wesley ans,  and 
English  Independents. 

Their  report,  which  was  unanimously  adoi)ted  by  the 
Madras  Missionary  Conference,  closes  as  follows  : 

''This  Conference  has  on  many  occasions  called  the 
attention  of  the  churches  to  the  existence  of  a  well- 
prepared  field  among  the  educated  non-Christian  young 
men  of  Madras,  and  begged  them  to  send  a  special 
agency  to  work  it,  and  it  regards  this  proposal  as  a 
providential  response  to  these  appeals,  and  it  will  grate- 
fully welcome  such  well-qualified,  thoroughly  trained 
agents  as  the  American  Association  may  propose  to 
send,  and  it  will  give  them  its  cordial  sympathy  and 
co-operation." 

How  wonderful  are  God's  leadings  !  That  first  appeal 
of  the  Madi'as  missionaries,  declaring  to  the  home 
churches  of  Scotland  and  England  their  belief  in  the 
"  existence  of  a  well  prepared  field  among  the  educated 
young  men  of  Madras,"  although  it  never  reached  Amer- 
ica, was  responded  to  by  those  who  had  gathered  among 
these  hills  of  Massachusetts,  to  study  God's  Word  and 
learn  their  duty  to  those  at  hand  and  those  afar  off. 
God's  voice  is  unmistakably  calling  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  of  America  to  go  to  the  rescue 
of  the  young  men  of  Asia. 

While  we  are  standing  wondering,  looking  out  upon 
the  vast  fields  before  us,  lo !  the  King's  voice  is  heard, 
giving  the  command,    ''Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach 


THE  DUTY  OF  CHJIISTIANS.  99 

all  nations."  ^'Son,  go  work  to-day  in  m}^  vineyard." 
"We  do  not  well:  this  day  is  a  day  of  good  tidings, 
and  we  hold  our  peace:  if  we  tarry  till  the  morning 
light,  some  mischief  will  come  upon  us:  now  therefore 
come,  that  we  may  go  and  tell  the  King's  household." 
Shall  the  young  guard  of  the  church  of  Christ  falter 
when  the  order  is  given  to  charge?  Surely  not.  Know- 
ing not  how  to  iDeat  a  retreat,  but  eager  to  sound  a 
charge,  we  will  moAe  forward  all  along  the  line. 

It  only  remains  to  note  what  is  to  be  the  relation  of 
the  force  back  of  the  movement  to  the  field  before  the 
movement. 

Our  attitude  must  be  that  of  unpatronizing  brother- 
hood. "Thank  God  there  are  no  foreign  countries  "now." 
That  we  ourselves  are  not  the  unevangelized,  instead 
of  these  who  now  need  our  help,  is  due  to  no  superiority 
or  virtue  of  ours,  but  because  the  star  of  Bethlehem 
took  its  way  westward  instead  of  eastward,  and  the 
star  of  empire  followed  in  its  course.  If  we  would 
really  help  our  brothers  in  the  East,  we  must  not  look 
down  upon  them  as  "the  heathen." 

We  owe  it  to  ourselves,  as  much  as  to  them,  to  show 
the  most  unselfish  liberality  in  financial  support  of  this 
movement.  We  have  never  yet  returned  those  costly 
gifts  that  "the  wise  men  of  the  East"  brought  from 
afar  and  laid  before  the  Lord,  and  the  interest  has 
been  compounding  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years. 
If  we  were  not  their  debtors,  though,  we  could  make  no 
investment  elsewhere  in  all  the  Avorld  that  would  make 
such  large  returns  of  treasure  laid  up  in  heaven.  Asso- 
ciations of  America,  entrusted  within  the  past  few 
years  with  millions  of  money  for  real  estate  and  for 
current  expenses,  beware  lest  the  Laodicean  condem 
nation  fall  upon  you  in  the  midst  of  your  perilous  pros- 


100  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

perity  I  For  your  self-preservation  give  liberally,  as 
stewards  of  the  mauifoLl  grace  of  God. 

Our  relations  witli  the  young  nien  in  the  regions 
beyond,  must  also  be  characterized  by  the  wisdom  that 
comes  from  experience  in  adapting  methods  to  condi- 
tions. AYe  are  not  necessarily  to  transport  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  Occident,  for  much  of  it  may  be  useless 
in  the  Orient.  Each  field  must  be  studied  with  patient 
care,  and  we  must  be  "  workers  together  with  Him  "  who 
has  the  plan  and  looks  down  upon  the  whole  world- 
wide field.  The  movement  must  be  kept  within  its 
definite  sphere,  ever  loyal  to  the  few,  fundamental, 
cardinal  principles  which  have  formed  the  solid  basis 
of  it.  It  is  to  be  exi)ected  that  it  will  be  carried  on 
from  the  highest  point  of  its  development  on  the  home 
field,  extending  from  the  high  vantage  ground  of 
the  college  to  all  classes  of  young  men.  The  standard 
of  consecration  must  be  held  high  on  the  onward  march, 
but  without  disturbing  the  tried  and  solid  basis  of 
"the  evangelical  test  of  membership." 

Our  attitude  must  be  one  of  high  hope  for  the  future, 
unfaltering  faith  in  God  and  self-denying  love  for  our 
felloAVS.  God's  order  of  advance  is  :  The  field,  the  men, 
the  means.  The  field  is  before  us — a  world  lying  in 
darkness.  The  men  are  spring'ng  to  the  front.  Not  many 
general  secretaries  from  the  home-field  are  wanted  at 
once,  but  an  army  of  devoted  men,  possessed  of  and 
possessed  Avith  the  spirit  and  idea  of  the  Association 
movement,  are  wanted  the  world  over  as  preachers, 
teachers,  merchants,  mechanics.  The  means  will  not  be 
wanting,  for  "  the  Lord  is  able  to  give  you  much  more 
than  this." 

'^Eun,  speak  to  this  young  man  !"  The  word  comes 
ringing  down  from  the  lips  of  an  angel  on  the  walls  of 


THE  DUTY  OF  CHRISTIANS.  101 

Jerusalem.  Pass  it  on  from  mouth  to  mouth.  Run  I 
because  the  young  man  of  to-day  is  fast,  and  he  is  fast 
going  down  to  everlasting  death.  Speak!  because 
however  fast  he  may  be  running  to  ruin,  the  voice  will 
travel  faster  than  the  fleetest  feet.  Run  and  speak! 
because  the  young  man,  once  reached,  will  run  and  speak 
to  many  more  young  men. 

*'  To  rescue  souls  forlorn  and  lost. 
The  troubled,  tempted,  tempest-tost 
To  heal,  to  comfort  and  to  teach ; 
The  fiery  tongues  of  Pentecost, 
His  symbols  were,  that  they  should  preach — 
In  every  form  of  human  speech- 
Prom  continent  to  continent." 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

PRAYER. 

Sermon  by  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody— Elements  in  True  Prayer— Adoration— Con- 
fession of  Sin— Restitution— Unity—Tlianksgiving— Forgiveness  of 
Sin  the  Most  Difficult—''  We  Cannot  Afford  not  to  Forgive"— First 
Six  Coirliiiipri  Give  Faitb— Perseveraupp— "  The  Philippinn  .Tnilor 
in  Trouble"— Prayer  While  One  Lives  in  Sin  is  an  Abomination- 
How  an  Infidel  was  Converted—"  We  Have  no  Right  to  Give  Any 
Man  Up"— Submission. 

Jesiis  Christ  never  taught  his  disciples  how  to  preach, 
but  he  did  teach  them  how  to  pray.  I  have  often  said 
that  I  woLihl  i-ather  be  able  to  pray  like  Daniel  than  to 
preach  like  Gabriel.  If  men  know  how  to  pray,  they 
know  how  to  work  for  God.  I  want  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  the  different  elements  of  all  true  prayer. 

In  the  first  place,  there  must  be  adoration.  Christ's 
prayer,  which  He  taught  his  disciples,  began,  "Hal- 
lowed be  thy  name."  When  Abraham  fell  on  his  face, 
God  talked  to  him.  When  Moses  came  to  the  burning 
bush,  he  had  to  take  his  shoes  off  his  feet.  I  think  in 
this  day  the  flipimnt  and  frivolous  wa^^  in  which  we  ap- 
proach God  is  shocking.  Do  you  remember  what 
Isaiah  says  in  the  sixth  chapter?  "In  the  year  that 
king  Uzziah  died,  I  saw  also  the  Lord  sitting  upon  a 
throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  and  his  train  filled  the  tem- 
l)le.  Above  it  stood  the  seraphims;  each  one  had  six 
wings;  with  twain  he  covered  his  face,  and  with  twain  he 
covered  his  feet,  ana  with  twain  he  did  i\j.  And  one  cried 
unto  another  and  said,  Hol3^,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  of 
hosts:  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory."  When  we 
approach  God,  we  must  come  into  his  presence  remem- 
bering that  He  is  holy. 

The  next  thing  there  must  be  confession  of  sin.    Daniel 

102 


PRAYER.  103 

confessed  sin  (Dan.  ix.)  Read  Psalms  li.  and  xxxii., 
and  see  how  David  confessed  his  sin.  God  cannot  for- 
give sins  till  we  confess  sins.  Nine-tenths  of  our  i)rayers 
never  go  liigher  than  the  room  they  are  uttered  in. 
What  is  the  matter?  Something  is  concealed.  If  I  re- 
gard iniquitj  in  my  heart,  He  will  not  hear,  much  less 
answer,  and,  if  our  prayers  are  not  answered,  let  us  not 
think  it  is  on  God's  side,  it  is  on  ours.  Isaiah  lix.  is 
quoted  many  times  in  meetings,  and  the  reader  stops  in 
the  wrong  place.  ''  Behold,  the  Lord's  hand  is  not  short- 
ened, that  it  cannot  save ;  but  your  iniquities  have  sepa- 
rated between  you  and  your  God,  and  youi'  sins  have  hid 
his  face  from  you  and  He  will  not  hear."  As  long  as 
you  have  a  bullet  in  your  body,  you  will  never  have  a 
perfectly  healthy  body,  because  there  is  a  foreign  ele- 
ment there;  and  as  long  as  you  have  a  sin  in  your  soul, 
you  will  not  have  a  healthy  soul.  If  I  have  too  much 
pride  to  confess  my  sins,  I  cannot  expect  God  to  hear  and 
answer. 

The  third  element  of  all  true  prayer  must  be  restitu- 
tion. It  is  folly  for  me  to  ask  God  to  forgive  my  sins, 
when  I  am  not  willing  to  make  restitution  when  it  is  in 
my  power.  If  I  have  |5  in  my  pocket  taken  from  some- 
one else,  I  may  pray  four  hundi'ed  times  for  God  to  for- 
give me,  but  I  will  not  be  forgiven.  It  is  downright 
mockery  for  man  to  ask  God  to  do  something  we  can  do 
ourselves.  I  believe  we  have  got  to  have  more  preaching 
of  this  in  our  churches.  The  last  time  I  was  in  England, 
a  lady  came  into  the  inquiry  room;  quite  a  number 
talked  with  her,  and  finally  a  Christian  lady  got  her  con- 
fidence. She  said  that  she  had  been  a  housekeeper  for  a 
man  and  had  stolen  five  bottles  of  wine  from  him  on  his 
dying  bed,  and,  whenever  she  prayed,  she  saw  always 
those  five  bottles  of  wine.  "Your  duty  is  very  plain,"  said 


104  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

the  other,  "you  must  make  restitution."  But  she  thought 
that  was  too  great  a  cross,  and  it  went  on  for  a  number 
of  days ;  but  she  finally  took  a  £5  note,  and  went  to  the 
son  of  this  gentleman  and  tried  to  make  restitution.  He 
said  he  didn't  want  the  money,  but  she  said  "  I  cannot 
keep  it,"  and  finally  he  took  it  and  used  it  for  charity. 
She  came  right  to  my  lodgings  and  told  me  that  that 
was  the  most  joyful  time  of  her  life.  She  went  to  work, 
and  God  blessed  her  wonderfully.  The  reason  why  many 
Christians  do  not  grow  lies  right  there;  there  is  some- 
thing to  be  done.  Go  and  straighten  that  out.  Do 
Avhat  you  can  to  make  restitution;  if  it  is  money,  pay 
it  back;  if  it  is  some  slanderous  report,  go  and  do  all  you 
can  to  counteract  it. 

The  next  thing  is  unity.  If  I  cannot  go  on  with  God's 
people,  I  cannot  pray.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the^^ 
were  united.  Do  you  think  that  if  they  had  had  a 
church  quarrel  they  would  have  been  united?  Their 
hearts  were  like  drops  of  water  flowing  together.  What 
we  want  is  to  pray  for  unity,  and  to  have  the  spirit  of 
unity.  What  makes  me  enjoy  these  gatherings  is  that 
we  don't  know  what  sect  we  are  from.  I  think  we  are 
making  wonderful  progress  in  this  country.  A  few  years 
ago,  you  could  not  have  had  such  a  meeting  as  this. 
W^hat  was  Christ's  prayer?  That  disciples  might  be 
one  in  spirit. 

The  next  true  element  of  prayer  is  thanksgiving.  Let 
us  be  thankful  for  what  God  has  done  for  us.  In  Phil- 
ippians  iv  :  G,  are  these  words,  "  Be  careful  for  nothing, 
but  in  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  with 
thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto 
God."  Some  one  has  said  that  in  that  verse  you  A\dll  find 
three  things:  care  for  nothing,  prayerfulness  for  every- 
thing, and  thankfulness  for  anything.    I  think  we  shall 


PRAYER.  105 

have  more  prayers  answered  if  we  are  thankful  for  what 
we  do  get.  I  remember  meeting  a  man  in  Springfield  who 
said  that  he  had  lived  on  Grumble  street  most  all  his  life, 
and  he  had  just  moved  over  on  Thanksgiving  street,  and 
found  it  much  pleasanter,  too,  it  was  so  bright  and 
sunny.    In  alj  prayer  there  should  be  thanksgiving. 

The  sixth  element  in  prayer  is  the  most  difficult  of  all. 
I  don't  know  but  I  am  going  to  hit  some  of  }'ou  this 
morning.  If  you  will  turn  to  Christ's  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  (Matt,  vi.),  you  will  find  in  that  prayer  He  taught 
them,  not  only  how  to  pray,  but  the  thing  that  was  es- 
sential wli'^n  they  did  pray,  that  they  were  to  forgive 
(Matt,  vi.,  14,  15):  "For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  tres- 
passes, your  heavenh^  Father  will  also  forgive  you ;  But 
if  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will  your 
Father  forgive  your  trespasses."  Did  you  ever  thinly 
that  the  only  part  of  the  prayer  that  Christ  explained 
^^as  that  about  forgiveness?  I  believe  in  my  heart 
there  is  moie  prayer  unanswered  on  account  of  this 
spirit  of  forgiveness  than  on  account  of  any  other 
thing.  Do  not  you  see  how  it  is  utterh'  impossible  for 
me  to  expect  God  to  hear  my  prayer  for  mercy,  if  I  don't 
show  mercy  to  others?  I  remember  a  good  many  years 
ago  in  Chicago  a  gentleman  came  to  me  and  asked  me  to 
see  his  wife.  I  found  her  in  a  very  interesting  state,  as 
T  thought,  and  I  showed  her  the  way  of  life  as  well  as  I 
could,  and  I  prayed  with  her  and  she  prayed,  and  then  I 
said,  "  You  can  trust  me,  can't  ,you?"  She  said,  "  I  don't 
know  whether  I  can  or  not.''  The  next  day  she  was  as 
dark  as  ever,  and  I  said  to  myself,  this  woman  is  a 
Christian  and  s  he  don't  know  it.  I  will  ask  her  to  say  this 
prayer,  that  Christ  taught  his  disciples,  and  if  she  can 
say  that  from  her  heart,  she  is  a  Christian ;  for  I  tell  you, 
no  man  can  make  that  ]>rayer  from  his  heart  but  a  child 


106  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

of  Grod.  We  call  it  the  Lord's  i:>rayer,  but  it  is  the  disci- 
ples' prayer.  AVe  got  down  on  our  knees,  and  I  said, 
"Madam,!  want  you  to  repeat  this,sentence  by  sentence," 
and  I  began.  She  repeated  the  lirst,  and  so  on,  and  when 
I  got  to  "forgive  me  my  trespasses,"  she  broke  down. 
Said  I,  "Go  on."  Said  she,  "I  can't."  There  is  one  wo- 
man I'll  never  forgive,"  and  her  eyes  flashed  like  fire. 
"Well,"  said  I,  "there  is  no  use  in  our  going  on  any  fur- 
ther." Coolly  and  calmly  and  deliberately,  she  said, 
"  She  has  done  me  a  wrong,  and  I  never  will  forgive  her." 
"Well,"  I  said,  "you  will  never  be  forgiven."  And  for 
years  that  w^oman  tried  to  get  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
without  forgiveness,  and,  a  year  or  two  after,  she  w^ent 
out  of  her  mind,  and  went  to  an  insane  asylum.  I  noticed 
it  was  stated  in  the  papers  that  she  was  insane  on  the 
subject  of  religion.  Yes,  it  was  because  she  would  not 
forgive,  and  I  believe  there  is  many  and  many  a  person 
in  the  insane  asylum  to-day  that  has  gone  that  way  be- 
cause they  would  not  forgive.  There  is  nothing  plainer 
than  what  Christ  says  there,  "If  ye  forgive  men  not  their 
trespasses,  neither  will  your  Father  forgive  you."  If 
there  is  a  man  in  the  world  whom  you  have  not  forgiven, 
just  write  a  letter  of  forgiveness  and  send  it  b}^  the  first 
post. 

You  and  I  cannot  afford  not  to  forgive.  I  remember 
going  into  a  city  some  years  ago  and  preaching  a  week, 
and  ib  w^as  just  like  throwing  a  ball  against  a  stone  wall. 
I  could  not  get  hold.  I  opened  the  inquiry  room  doors 
and  no  one  came,  and  I  got  on  my  face  before  God,  and 
prayed  Him  to  show  .me  the  reason.  Finally  I  touched 
on  this  subject,  and  the  chairman  of  my  committee,  in 
the  middle  of  the  talk,  got  his  hat  and  pushed  his  way  off 
tlie  platform,  and  went  out  of  the  hall.  In  the  after- 
noon, a  very  prominent  citizen  came  to  hunt  me  up,  and 


PRAYER.  107 

said  that  he  had  been  very  much  opposed  to  my  com- 
ing to  the  city,  and  that  he  thought  it  was  a  waste  of 
money:  "  but,"  says  he,  '"  if  notliing  else  has  been  accom- 
plished, it  is  enough  to  pay  for  putting  up  the  building/' 
''What  has  happened?''  said  I.  "Why,"  says  he,  "the 
chairman  of  your  committee  and  I  had  a  falling  out  six 
months  ago,  and  this  afternoon  he  came  down  and  said 
"  I  want  you  to  forgive  me,"  and  in  my  oftice  \\e  had  the 
grandest  little  prayer-meeting  I  ever  had/'  That  night 
I  asked  them  to  come  into  the  inquiry  room,  and  it  was 
just  crowded.  How  many  colleges  would  be  blessed  if 
the  Christians  were  all  united,  and  loved  one  another  and 
stood  shoulder  to  shoulder. 

What  we  want  is  the  spirit  of  unity.  How  can  we  get 
it  if  we  don't  cultivate  the  spirit  of  forgiveness?  So  that 
there  is  no  spirit  of  bitterness  in  3'our  heart  against  any- 
body. "Oh,  but  you  say,  he  don't  want  to  be  for- 
given." Well,  that  don't  prevent  your  forgiving  him. 
There  is  one  tiling,  you  can  love  ever3'body  on  the  earth 
whether  they  want  it  or  not.  A  man  who  does  not  have 
t]iis  in  his  soul  can  preach  with  all  earnestness,  but 
he  won't  accomplish  anything.  I  knew  two  ministers, 
one  at  the  head  of  a  university,  and  the  other  at  the  head 
of  a  churchj  the}-  had  a  falling  out,  and  the  university 
and  the  church  went  down. 

The  next  true  element  is  faith.  If  you  combine  the 
other  six  elements  you  get  this  one.  You  must  have 
faith  when  you  pray  if  you  are  going  to  have  your 
prayers  answered.  James  i.,  6.  "Let  him  ask  in  faith, 
nothing  wavering.  For  he  that  wavereth  is  like  a  wave 
of  the  sea  (Mven  with  the  wind  and  tossed."  Faith  is  the 
golden  key  that  unlocks  the  doors  of  heaven.  Some 
one  has  said  that  faith  could  get  anything  from  Christ 
when  He  was  on  earth.    So  to-day,  it  is  faith  that  we 


108  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

want.  There  is  a  i^romise;  we  comply  with  the  con- 
ditions He  will  surely  answer  our  prayer.  But  you 
don't  always  get  what  you  want.  A  friend  of  mine  said 
he  was  shaving  himself,  and  his  little  boy  wanted 
the  razor  to  whittle  with  and  cried  and  said  his 
father  did  not  love  him,  because  he  did  not  give  it  to  him. 
He  loved  him  too  much.  We  sometimes  pray  for  razors, 
and  then  sa^  that  God  don't  answer  prayer.  My  little 
boy  ten  years  old  asks  for  a  good  many  things  that  he 
don't  get,  but  he  gets  an  answer.  That  is  the  mistake 
people  make,  that  God  don't  answer  prayer,  because  He 
don't  give  everything  they  ask  for.  Does  your  faith 
have  a  warrant  for  it?  There  are  some  things  I  know  are 
according  to  God's  will  and  words ;  there  are  other  things 
I  don't  know,  and  therefore  haven't  got  any  warrant  for. 
Many  years  ago,  when  we  had  a  convention,  Garfield  was 
shot  and  lay  wounded.  A  lady  said,  "I  know  Garfield 
will  recover,  I  have  asked  God."  "Well,  you  have  no 
warrant  that  that  man  will  live.  It  may  not  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  will."  There  is  the  thing  we  have  got 
to  keep  in  mind.  Make  known  your  requests  to  God^  but 
you  won't  get  them  all  gi^anted.  There  must  be  sub- 
mission in  all  true  prayers. 

The  next  thing  we  want  is  perseverance.  If  we  don't 
get  things  just  at  the  time  and  in  the  way  we  want, 
we  are  to  keep  on.  God  encourages  importunity.  Men 
don't  like  it,  but  it  is  not  so  with  the  Lord:  Luke  xviii: 
1 :  "  Men  ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint."  That  par- 
able is  given  to  us  to  show  that  God  encourages  us  to 
pray.  I  don't  think  we  have  any  right  to  give  up  any 
man  on  the  face  of  the  earthj  we  are  to  pray  for  all  men. 
We  cannot  tell  whom  God  will  accept,  but  we  are  taught 
to  pray  for  all  men.  No  matter  how  great  an  infidel  a 
man  may  be  just  keep  on  praying  for  him,  and  if  it  is 


PRAYER.  109 

Good's  pleasure  to  save  him  in  our  time  he  will  be  saved, 
or  it  may  be  after  we  are  dead  and  gone.  I  don't  know 
when  I  have  been  more  encouraged  than  this  spring. 
About  nine  years  ago  I  went  to  St.  Louis  and  the 
Globe-Democrat  sent  reporters  to  take  every  word.  The 
New  York  papers  said  I  spoke  too  rapidly  to  be  reported. 
It  was  merely  a  matter  of  enterprise;  they  had  two 
reporters  to  take  down  the  words,  and  what  one  left  out 
the  other  had.  I  was  very  glad  to  see  it  at  first,  and  to 
my  great  surprise  they  kept  on.  I  never  worked  so  hai'd 
for  six  months  to  avoid  repeating  myself.  I  didn't  feel 
very  happy  about  it;  but  since  I  went  away  I  heard 
that  there  had  been  a  most  remarkable  conversion.  I 
preached  on  the  l*hilippian  jailor.  The  paper  with  the 
report  went  to  the  jail  and  Avas  thrown  into  a  man's  cell. 
He  had  spent  20  years  in  jail,  and  then  was  expecting 
to  be  sentenced  for  fifteen  years  more.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  noted  perjurers,  never  went  to  church,  and  didn't 
know  anything  about  these  meetings.  He  could  not  sleep 
one  night,  and  picked  up  the  Globe-Democrat,  and  his 
eye  fell  on  the  headline,  "The  Philippian  Jailor  in 
Trouble."  '^Ho,  ho,"  says  he,  '^A  jailor  got  into  limlx) 
now,"  and  he  was  glad  that  this  Philippian  jailor 
had  got  caught,  and  he  wanted  to  see  how  it  was,  think- 
ing that  Philippi  was  near  to  St.  Louis.  The  text 
was  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved,"  and  I  had  brought  in  an  account  of  the  Phil- 
ippian jailor.  He  read  it  through,  not  knowing  it  was 
a  sermon,  and  said  that  1  had  repeated  the  text  nine 
times.  He  didn't  know  one  verse  in  the  Bible,  but  he 
said  the  ninth  time  I  closed  up  that  sermon  by  saying, 
''Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved."  He  threw  the  paper  down  and  fell  on  his  knees, 
and  cried  to  God  to  save  him.    Light  broke  in  on  him  at 


110  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

that  midnight  hour.  By  some  change  the  next  week, 
he  got  ont,  and  the  sheriff  gave  him  a  ^position  as  under- 
sheriff,  and  when  the  opposite  political  party  came  in, 
he  was  such  a  faithful  officer  that  they  kept  him,  and 
there  he  is  in  that  office.  I  believe  that  we  give  up  a 
great  many  men  and  don't  praj^  for  them.  It  is  a  good 
thing  for  us  to  have  faith  to  believe  that  all  things  are 
I^ossible  with  God,  and  that  G  od  can  reach  men  that  you 
and  I  cannot  reach. 

What  Ave  want  is  to  persevere  and  not  give  up  any- 
body. When  I  went  to  Edinburgh  a  man  asked  me  to  put 
out  a  certain  man,  for  he  was  telling  people  not  to  be- 
lieve in  religion.  I  went  over  to  him  and  put  a  hand  on 
him  and  he  said,  "Oh,  Moody,  I'm  glad  you  are  here, 
pray  for  me."  "  Very  well,"  says  I,  "  Get  down  on  your 
knees."  "There  isn't  any  God,"  said  he.  Well,  I 
thought  I  would  pray  him  out  of  the  meeting  if  not  into 
the  Icingdom.  When  I  got  through,  in  a  mean,  contempt- 
ible way,  he  said,  "I  suppose  that  you  will  report  that 
I  have  been  converted?"  "Well,  my  friend,"  said  I, 
"  You  may  be  converted,  I  don't  know  when  or  where  or 
how,  but  God  is  able  to  convert  3'^ou."  He  started 
around  the  next  side,  and  I  went  round  and  had  another 
prayer  Avith  him.  I  don't  know  how  many  times  he 
came,  but  finally  he  dropped  out.  The  next  summer, 
Avhen  I  was  in  Scotland  preaching,  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
meeting,  I  saAV  my  infidel  friend.  "  Well,  my  friend,"  said 
I,  "how  are  you?"  "Well,"  says  he,  ^'I  see  you  are  at 
your  old  tricks.    But  you  know  you  can't  convert  me." 

"No,  I  don't  know  anything  of  the  kind."  But  he  wasn't 
quite  so  bitter.  I  Avent  through  Ireland  and  over  to  Li  ver- 
pool  and  there  I  got  a  letter  from  a  leading  man  in  Edin- 
burgh, saying  that  he  thought  I  would  like  to  know  that 
mv  old  infidel  friend  was  converted.  The  next  time  I  went 


PRAYER.  Ill 

up  to  Edinburgh,  about  the  first  man  i  met  was  he,  and 
he  gave  me  a  grip  of  the  hand,  and  said,  "  It  is  all  true." 
He  told  how  God  had  filled  him  in  answer  to  prayer,  and, 
just  as  I  was  leaving,  he  said,  "  AVhile  I  was  in  atheism,  I 
led  my  son  into  atheism,  and  he  is  over  in  Philadelphia, 
and  I  wish  you  would  look  him  up,  and  pray  for  him." 
The  very  thing  he  laughed  at  me  about,  requests  for 
prayers,  was  the  thing  he  wanted  for  his  son. 
What  we  want  is  to  have  faith  that  there  is  no  man  or 
woman  so  far  gone  that  God  cannot  help  him.  Eph.  iii., 
20 :  ''  Unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think — ." 

The  next  element  is  petition.  A  man  was  once  mak- 
ing an  oration  to  the  Almighty,  when  finally  an  old 
woman  broke  right  out,  and  said,  ''  Ask  Him  for  some- 
thing." If  a  man  don't  give  up  his  sins,  prayers  are  an 
abomination  to  God,  I  haven't  any  doubt  about  it.  Any 
man  who  has  a  desire  to  give  up  sin  can  go  to  God  and 
will  make  a  prayer  that  will  be  heard  as  soon  as  that  of 
any  bishop  or  potentate.  I  believe  there  is  no  sweeter 
music  that  falls  upon  the  ear  of  God  than  David's  prayer 
after  his  fall  (Ps.  li.  and  xxxii.),  and  when  a  man's  heart 
has  been  broken  on  account  of  sin,  that  is  the  very  time 
to  go  to  God.  I  remember  the  sweet  prayer:  "Oh,  God, 
take  my  heart,  for  I  cannot  give  it,  and  when  Thou  hast 
it,  keep  it,  for  I  cannot  keep  it  for  Thee,  and  save  me  in 
spite  of  myself."  If  you  really  want  salvation,  you  can 
have  it.  Young  men  make  a  great  mistake  when  they 
don't  pray  in  the  prayer  meetings;  many  young 
men  think  they  cannot  pray  acceptably.  The  prayers 
in  the  Bible  that  brought  the  quickest  answers  have  been 
short  prayers.  Is  there  a  young  student  in  this  world 
that  cannot  make  that  prayer  of  the  publican?  If  it 
comes  from  the  heart,  it  will  reach  the  ear  of  God.    Look 


112  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

at  that  prayer  that  Peter  made,  "  Lord,  save  me  or  I  per- 
ish." These  prayers  were  heard  and  the  answers  came 
instantly.  If  you  want  the  truth  and  don't  know  what 
the  truth  is,,  ask  Him  and  call  on  God,  who  upbraideth 
not.  There  is  not  a  man  here  that  cannot  get  salvation 
if  he  asks  for  it.  "Lord,  save  me  or  I  perish;"  "Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 

When  I  was  in  Newcastle,  in  1873,  a  lady  came  to  me 
and  told  me :  "  I  have  got  my  nephew  to  go  to  meeting  to- 
night, if  I  will  never  ask  him  to  go  to  another  religious 
meeting  in  his  life.  1  am  sure  he  won't  go  into  your  in- 
quiry meeting,  and  won't  you  go  to  him  when  you  get 
through  i3reaching?  I  hope  you  will  come  to  the  seat."  I 
said:  "It  will  be  a  great  mistake.  Everybody  will  be 
stretching  their  necks  to  see  whom  Moody's  going  for." 
She  said,  "It  is  a  desperate  case,"  and  jjersuaded  me. 
When  I  got  into  the  pulpit,  I  saw  the  aunt  and  nephew, 
and  she  had  got  him  inside  and  sat  at  the  end  so  as  to 
hold  him  in.  I  saw  he  resented  everything.  I  didn't 
know  wdiat  I  was  going  to  do,  I  said  it  w^ould  be  a  hard 
thing  to  reach  that  man.  But,  when  I  got  through,  I 
started,  and  the  aunt  stood  up  and  tm^ned  her  back  to  the 
nephew,  and  I  suppose  she  w  as  trying  to  keep  him  there. 
Finally  he  says,  "  That  man's  after  me,  that's  a  put  up 
job,  what  a  fool  I  w^as  to  get  into  such  a  scmpe  as  that." 
The  room  was  so  crowded  I  was  going  down  over  the 
backs  of  the  pews,  and  finally  he  said,  "  Well,  if  he  can 
go  over  the  backs  of  the  pew^s,  I  can,"  and  over  he  went 
and  out  of  the  door.  The  poor  woman  sat  down  and  wept. 
She  saiG,  "My  heart  is  broken."  I  said:  "My  dear  friend, 
we  must  reach  him  by  w^ay  of  the  throne."  Sometimes 
all  you  can  do  for  a  man  is  to  ask  God  to  bless  him.  God 
can  speak  when  man  can't.  He  spoke  to  Saul,  no  one 
had  faith  to  pray  for  Saul.    Seven  or  eight  years  passed. 


PRAYER.  113 

I  was  back  in  that  city,  and  got  up  and  read  a  letter 
from  the  sister  of  a  young  di'iinkard  who  had  been 
saved.  She  said,  "Mr  Moody,  encourage  the  mothers 
and  sisters  and  wives  to  pray  for  their  drinking  hus 
bands,  sons  and  brothers."  When  I  was  through  a  man 
came  to  me  and  said,  ''  Did  you  say  that  man  was  in 
America?  I  think  it  was  myself."  "Indeed,"  I  said,  "was 
you  ever  a  drinldng  man?"  I'm  ashamed  to  tell  you  I  was, 
but  I  gave  it  up  seven  years  ago.  Do  vou  remember  that 
lady  whose  nephew  jumped  over  the  pews  and  ran 
out?"  "  Oh,"  said  I,  "  I.  remember  it  very  well."  "  Well," 
said  he,  "I  am  that  nephew."  "You  don't  look  like 
the  same  man  at  all."  "I'm  not.  For  jears  I  used  to  tell 
the  boys  how  I  fooled  Moody.  But  one  night,  about  a 
year  after  that,  I  was  up  in  London,  and  I  had  my  feet 
on  the  table  and  a  meerschaum  pipe  in  my  mouth,  and 
my  thoughts  turned  in  on  myself,  and  I  said,  'Richardson, 
you  ought  to  be  a  different  man.'  'Yes,  I  know  it,  but  I 
never  will.'  'Eiehard  on,  you  ought  to  give  up  drinking.' 
'Yes,  but  I  never  will.'  I  will  die  as  I  have  been  living. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  live  a  different  life." 
He  said  he  had  no  more  than  said  that  than  the 
thought  came  to  him,  "  It  is  impossible,  but,  oh  God,  all 
things  are  possible  with  you,  save  me."  i^fter  that 
prayer,  he  was  afraid  to  lie  down  and  go  to  sleep,  for  he 
thought  the  appetite  would  come  back :  so  he  sat  up  till 
about  two  o'clock,  and  then  began  to  get  drowsy.  Be- 
fore he  laid  down,  he  prayed  that,  when  he  woke  up  in 
the  morning,  he  might  feel  bad.  After  he  had  slept  a 
few  hours,  he  woke  up  and  said  he  never  felt  so  bad  in 
his  life.  He  Avent  down  to  the  office,  and  said,  "I  have 
drunk  my  last  drop  of  liquor,  and  I  have  made  u]>  my 
mind  to  serve  Jesus  Christ."  They  gave  him  forty-eight 
hours  to  keep  sober.    He  said  that  the  appetite  never 


114  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

had  returned  for  strong  drink.  That  is  what  I  call 
prayer:  "God,  all  things  are  possible  with  you." 

In  true  prayer  there  will  be  submission.  Just  make 
your  request  to  God,  and  say,  "Thy  will  be  done,  not 
mine."  The  sweetest  lesson  I  have  learned  is  to  let  God 
choose  for  me  in  temporal  things.  My  profession,  it  is 
the  last  thing  in  this  world  I  would  ha\e  chosen.  When 
1  became  a  Christian  one  class  of  people  I  disliked  very 
much  was  evangelists.  But  I  tell  you  this  morning  I 
would  not  change  my  position  for  that  of  any  man  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  I  think  the  pulpit  is  a  little  higher  than 
the  throne.  So,  young  men,  you  don't  know  what  profes- 
sion is  best  for  you:  let  God  guide  you.  Don't  be  afraid 
of  God's  will.  I  know  of  young  men  here  afraid  to  become 
Christians  because  they  are  afraid  God  will  want 
them  to  go  to  China,  Japan  or  India.  I  would  rather  be 
in  the  heart  of  Africa  with  God  than  in  America  with- 
out Him.  He  can  choose  ten  thousand  times  better  than 
you  know  how  to. 

Take  three  of  the  mightiest  men  on  this  earth,  and  they 
didn't  know  how  to  choose  for  themselves.  Moses 
wanted  to  go  into  the  promised  land,  but  God  didn't  let 
him.  Was  that  any  sign  that  God  didn't  love  Moses?  I 
believe  there  was  not  a  man  a  thousand  years  before 
and  after  that  God  so  blessed  in  answer  to  prayer,  as  He 
did  Moses.  He  knew  how  to  pray.  Fifteen  hundred 
years  after,  God  answered  his  prayer,  and  he  was  in  the 
promised  land.  He  was  there  with  Elijah  and  Peter, 
James  and  John  and  Christ,  on  the  Mount  of  Trans- 
figuration. Was  not  it  far  better  to  be  there  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration  than  to  go  in  as  Joshua 
did?  Don't  you  let  Satan  say  that  God  don't  love  you 
because  He  don't  give  you  at  once  everything  you  ask 
for.    It  is  because  He  loves  you  too  much. 


PRAYER.  115 

Take  Elijah ;  if  there  was  a  man  God  loved,  it  was  Eli- 
jah. He  locked  up  the  gates  of  heaven,  and  carried 
around  the  key  in  his  pocket  for  three  years  and  six 
months,  and  no  one  could  get  a  drop  of  water.  He  told 
his  servant  what  to  do  and  he  did  it.  But  he  prayed  that 
he  might  die  under  the  juniper  tree.  When  he  wanted 
rain  he  prayed  and  it  came.  But  when  he  prayed  for 
death,  he  could  not  get  it.  The  only  man  in  that  dispen- 
sation that  prayed  that  he  might  die  was  Elijah.  Why 
didn't  he  die?  God  loved  him  too  well.  A  great  many 
of  us  get  under  the  juniper  tree  when  we  are  discouraged. 
God  never  blesses  a  man  under  the  juniper  tree. 

Paul  is  another  man  who  knew  how  to  pray. 
Three  times  he  prayed  that  God  would  take  the 
thorn  out  of  his  Hesh,  but  God  didn't  answer  his  prayer. 
Just  as  a  father  might  say  to  a  child,  God  said,  "I  am  not 
going  to  speak  to  you  any  more  about  the  thorn,  but  I 
am  going  to  give  jou  grace  to  bear  it."  Then  Paul  said. 
"  Than]^  God  for  the  thorn."  Let  us  pray  God  to  give  us 
more  grace  to  bear  the  thorns. 

These  are  ten  elements  of  all  true  prayer,  and,  if  we 
have  them,  ^\'e  are  going  to  have  powder  with  God  in 
l)ra3er. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    PROPHECY    OF    JOEL. 

Excsetieal  Lecture  by  Prof.  W.  R.  Harper— Situation  of  the  Prophecy— 
The  Political,  Religious,  and  Literary  Horizon— Condi tion  of  Israel 
in  the  Time  of  the  Prophet— The  Locusts  and  the  Famine— The 
Calamity  a  Judgment  from  God— Joel's  Pen  Picture  of  the  Army  of 
Locusts— The  Prophet's  Advice,  Prayer— God's  Answer,  that  the 
Locusts  Shall  be  Destroyed,  and  the  Rain  Shall  Come— Prophetic 
Meaning   of  These  Promises. 

Will  you  remember  that  the  Old  Testament  prophet 
was  divinely  appointed  to  do  his  work,  and  that  all  of  our 
study  of  his  words  must  be  based  upon  this  fact?  But 
remember  again  that  every  prophet  had  a  particular  mes- 
sage. They  did  not  all  come  to  tell  the  same  story.  It 
all  had  to  do  with  the  same  work,  but  there  were  differ- 
ent phases,  and  each  prophet  tells  his  story  in  a  different 
way.  Hosea  preached  as  no  prophet  ever  preached,  the 
story  of  God's  love.  Amos  told  the  story  of  God's  justice. 
Each  prophet  has  a  message  of  his  own  and  it  should  be 
our  work  to  find  out  the  particular  line  of  thought,  the 
particular  subject,  the  great  idea,  of  that  prophet. 

The  prophet  was  the  orator,  the  politician  of  his  times, 
and  every  prophet  was  sent  to  convey  a  message,  pri- 
marily (not  chiefly),  for  his  times,  and  then,  for  the 
future.  If  that  is  true — and  I  do  not  believe  that  you  can 
deny  it — it  is  your  business  and  mine  to  get  our- 
selves into  sympathy  with  the  historical  situation  of  the 
prophet  ;  for  you  cannot  understand  his  message,  unless 
you  are  familiar  with  that  situation.  The  message  and 
the  situation  go  together.  You  cannot  separate  them, 
and  the  message  is  unintelligible,  unless  you  are  famil- 
iar with  the  facts  of  which  it  is  an  outgrowth. 

A  word,  if  you  please,  in  reference  to  the  political  hor- 

116 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  117 

izon  of  the  prophet.  The  book  of  Joel  tells  us  that  the 
Philistines  had  inyaded  Judah,  captured  many  of  its  in- 
habitants, and  sold  them  as  slaves ;  this  took  place  under 
a  certain  king,  Jehoram.  Secondly,  the  Edomites  are 
Israel's  bitter  enemies;  and,  because  of  the  injuries 
which  the  Israelites  suffered  from  them,  their  country 
shall  be  a  desolation.  We  are  told  that  the  Jews  had  been 
sold  by  them  and  for  this  the  Edomites  shall  be  punished. 
There  were  times  in  which  Israel  felt  that  she  had  been 
cruelly  dealt  with  by  her  neighbors ;  when  the  best  pos- 
sible thing,  according  to  the  popular  idea,  that  could  hap- 
pen, would  be  the  destruction  of  those  enemies. 

But  two  important  nations  are  not  mentioned  at  all. 
Although  the  Syrians  made  an  expedition  against  Egypt, 
and  are  referred  to  by  Amos  as  the  most  important  of 
Israel's  enemies ;  thej^  are  not  referred  to  in  the  book  of 
Joel.  What  does  this  mean?  That  the  invasion  and  pil- 
lage took  place  after  Joel,  or,  at  all  events,  he  would  not 
have  failed  to  name  the  Syrians  in  the  list  of  Israel's  en- 
emies.  The  political  situation  is  therefore  quite  distinct. 
Israel's  enemies  were  the  Philistines,-  the  Edomites,  the 
Egyptians.  Syria  has  been  long  since  at  peace.  Assyria 
has  not  yet  taken  a  prondnent  place  in  relation  to  Israel. 
The  king  was  not  himself  administering  the  affairs  of 
the  nation. 

What  was  the  religious  horizon?  The  scenes  w^hich 
Amos  and  Isaiah  condemned  so  severely  are  not  men- 
tioned by  Joel.  Idolatry  is  not  spoken  of  as  one  of  the 
national  sins,  and  yet  there  have  not  been  many  periods 
in  Jewish  history  in  which  a  sermon  on  idolatry  would 
have  been  out  of  place.  In  the  time  of  Athaliah,  Judah 
had  gone  over,  almost  en  masse,  to  Baalism.  But  at  the 
time  of  our  prophet,  the  true  religion  prevailed  every- 
where.   It  might  not  have  been  as  rigidly  observed  as  at 


118  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

other  times,  but  the  situation  portra}  eel  is  one  in  which 
Jehovah's  priests  occupied  a  prominent  position;  in- 
deed the  priests  controlled,  not  only  the  religion,  but  as 
well  the  state.  All  this  points  to  the  conclusion  that 
Joel  lived  and  worked  under  Joash  the  Jewish  king  who 
came  to  the  throne  under  such  peculiar  circumstances. 
The  prophecy  was  delivered  within  the  first  thirty  years 
of  his  reign,  during  wliich  the  high-priest  administered 
the  affairs. 

A  word  concerning  the  literary  horizon.  As  every- 
one knows,  the  style  and  language  of  an  earlier  prophet 
are  in  very  marked  contrast  with  those  of  a  later  prophet. 
There  is  all  the  difference  in  the  world  between 
Hosea  and  Malachi.  Does  Joel  belong  to  the  early  or  to 
the  late  period?  The  style  is  simple,  pure,  classic,  en- 
ergetic and  vivid,  powerful  and  dignified;  and  these  are 
the  characteristics  of  the  early,  not  the  later  age.  Be- 
sides this,  the  prophecy  of  Amos  is  built  on  a  text  taken 
from  Joel,  and  Isaiah  follows  Joel  largely  in  many  par- 
ticulars. 

Thus  we  are  able  to  fix  more  definitely  the  time  of  our 
writer.  It  was  a  time  when  Israel  was  struggling  with 
Edom,  Phoenicia,  Philistia,  not  with  Syria  or  Assyria; 
when  a  priest,  not  a  king,  was  at  the  head  of  the  state ; 
a  time  when  Jehovah  worship,  not  idolatry,  prevailed, 
when  prophecy  was  just  beginning  to  take  w^ritten  form, 
for,  of  all  the  prophets,  whose  writings  have  been  trans- 
mitted to  uSj  Joel  is  the  first. 

Do  we  know  anything  about  Joel  himself?  Nothing, 
save  that  he  was  of  Judah,  and  that  he  preached  in  Jeru- 
salem. 

Will  you  try  to  get  into  sympathy  with  this  situation? 
A  time  of  great  disaster,  a  time  of  great  trouble.  Imag- 
ine this  prophet  standing  before  thousands  (c.  i.) :    "  O 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  119 

men  of  Judah,"  lie  is  talking  to  the  crowd  before  him, 
^'inhabitants  of  the  land.  Hath  this  been  in  yonr  days 
or  in  the  days  of  your  fathers?  Tell  ye  your  children 
of  it,  and  let  your  children  tell  their  children,  and  their 
childi'en  another  generation."  What  is  the  trouble? 
What  was  it?  ''That  which  the  palmerworm  hath  left 
hath  the  locust  eaten,  and  that  which  the  locust  hath  left 
hath  the  cankerworm  eaten,  and  that  wliich  the  caiiker- 
worni  hath  left  hath  the  caterpillar  eaten."  These 
were  four  different  kinds  of  locusts,  or  locusts  in  differ- 
ent stages  of  growth,  or,  better  yet,  different  names  de- 
scriptive of  locusts.  "  Hard  times  have  come,"  says  the 
prophet.  "Has  any  one  of  you  ever  known  such  a  ter- 
rible thing?  Surely  God's  hand  is  in  it."  Then  he  turns 
to  tlie  di'unkards,  and  says:  "O  ye  poor  drunkards, 
awake,  and  howl  all  ye  diinkers  of  w^ine,  because  of  the 
sweet  wine;  for  it  is  cut  off  from  your  mouth."  Then 
he  turns  to  the  assembled  crowd:  "O  citizens  of  Jeru- 
salem, O  inhabitants  of  the  land;  it  is  a  time  of  mourn- 
ing. Mourn,  O  Judah.  Yes,  mourn  as  mourns  a  virgin 
girded  with  sackcloth  for  the  husband  of  her  youth, 
deeply  and  bitterly.  There  is  no  meal  offering  or  di^nk 
offering  for  the  house  of  the  Lord.  The  priests,  the 
Lord's  ministers,  mourn.  The  field  is  wasted,  the  land 
mourneth ;  for  the  corn  is  w^asted,  the  new^  wine  is  dried 
up,  the  oil  languisheth.  Be  ashamed,  O  ye  husband- 
men; howl,  O  je  vinedressers,  for  the  w^heat  and  for 
the  barley,  for  the  harvest  of  the  field  is  perished.  The 
vine  is  withered,  and  the  fig  tree  languisheth  ;  the  pome- 
granate tree,  the  palm  tree  also,  and  the  apple  tree,  even 
all  the  trees  of  the  field  are  withered.  Everything  is 
destroyed;  joy  is  departed  from  the  sons  of  men."  Then 
he  turns  to  the  priests  who  are  standing  by  (v.  13) :  "  O 
priests  of  Judah,  gird  yourselves  and  lament  :  howl,  ye 


120  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

ministers  of  the  altar,  go,  lie  all  night  in  sackcloth,  ye 
ministers  of  my  God:  for  the  meat  offering  and  the  drink 
offering  is  Avithholden  from  the  honse  of  your  God.  Sanc- 
tify the  feast,  call  a  solemn  assembly,  gather  together 
the  old  men  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  the 
honse  of  the  Lord  your  God,  and  cry  unto  the  Lord.  For 
it  must  be  that  the  terrible  day,  the  day  of  Jehovah  has 
come.  Is  not  the  meat  cut  off  before  our  eyes,  yea, 
joy  and  gladness  from  the  house  of  our  God?"  What  a 
terrible  calamity  is  ours.  My  friends,  he  says  in 
these  verses,  "terrible  times  have  come;  see  the  devasta- 
tion wrought  by  these  locusts;  let  the  sleepy  drunkard 
arouse  himself  and  mourn ;  for  there  is  no  more  wine.  Let 
the  people  everywhere  mourn;  for  their  land  is  laid 
waste.  Let  the  priests  mourn,  for  their  occupation  is 
gone.  Let  all  classes  turn  to  God  in  this  day  of  trouble." 
Could  a  calamity  be  pictured  more  vividly  ?  Could  any 
description  be  made  more  true? 

Such  a  scourge  as  that  of  the  locusts  would  seem  to 
have  been  all  that  a  nation  could  bear  at  one  time,  but 
(vs.  18, 19)  "  How  do  the  beasts  groan !  The  herds  of  cat- 
tle are  perplexed,  because  they  have  no  pastui^e;  yea,  the 
flocks  of  sheep  are  made  desolate.  O  Jehovah,  I  cry  to 
Thee,  for  the  fire  hath  devoured  the  pastures  of  the 
wilderness."  A  terrible  drouth  accompanies  the  locusts, 
and  between  the  two,  man  and  beast  seem  ready  to 
perish  from  the  land. 

This  is  the  setting  and  historical  occasion  of  the  proph- 
ecy. In  his  opinion,  this  calamity  is  all  a  judgment  from 
God.  What,  now,  is  to  be  done  in  view  of  all  the  cir- 
cumstances? In  c.  ii,  V.  1,  we  have  a  summons  to  prayer 
and  fasting,  for  the  removal  of  the  judgment.  "Blow 
the  trumpet  in  Zion,  and  sound  an  alarm  in  my  holy 
mountain:  let  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  tremble:  for 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  121 

the  day  of  the  Lord  coineth,  for  it  is  nigh  at  hand;  a  day 
of  darkness  and  gloominess,  a  day  of  clouds  and  thick 
darkness."  Then  follows  a  series  of  pictures  of  the  army 
of  locusts:  "A  great  people  and  a  strong,  there  hath  not 
ever  been  the  like,  neither  shall  be  any  more  after  them, 
even  to  the  years  of  many  generations;"  and  here  we 
have  a  picture  of  the  army  as  seen  from  a  distance,  and 
the  devastation  they  accomplished  (vs.  1,  5):  "The 
appearance  of  them  is  as  the  appearance  of  horses,  and 
as  horsemen,  so  do  they  run.  Like  the  noise  of  chariots  on 
the  tops  of  mountains,  so  do  they  leap,  like  the  noise  of 
a  flame  of  fire  that  devoureth  the  stubble,  as  a  strong 
people,  set  in  array  of  battle;"  we  have  a  picture  of  the 
appearance  of  this  mighty  army  and  their  effect  (vs. 
7-11).  "They  run  like  mighty  men,  they  climb  the  wall 
like  men  of  war,  and  they  march  every  one  on  his  w^ays, 
and  they  break  not  their  ranks.  Neither  doth  one  thrust 
another:  they  march  e\evj  one  in  his  path:  and  they 
burst  through  the  w^eapons,  and  break  not  off  their 
course.  They  leap  upon  the  city,  they  run  upon  the  wall, 
they  climb  up  into  the  houses,  they  enter  at  the  windows 
like  a  thief.  The  earth  quaketh  before  them,  the  heavens 
tremble:  the  sun  and  moon  are  darkened,  and  the  stars 
withdi-aw  their  shining:  and  the  Lord  uttereth  his  voice 
before  his  army,  for  his  camp  is  very  great:  for  He  is 
sti'ong  that  executeth  his  word:  for  the  day  of  the  Lord 
is  great  and  very  terrible,  and  w  ho  can  abide  it?"  And 
this  is  a  picture  of  the  irresistible  powder  of  the  army: 
nothing  can  withstand  it. 

Terrible  as  all  this  is,  close  as  it  is,  there  is  yet  time 
to  avoid  the  judgment.  "  'Yet  even  now^,'  saitli  the  Lord, 
*  turn  ye  unto  me  with  all  your  heart  and  with  fasting 
and  with  weeping  and  with  mourning:  and  rend  your 
heart  and  not  vour  garments,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord 


122  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

your  God,  for  He  is  gracious  and  full  of  compassion,  slow 
to  anger  and  plenteous  in  mercy,  and  repenteth  Him  of 
the  evil.  Who  knoweth  whether  He  will  not  return  and 
repent  and  leave  a  blessing  behind  Him,  even  a  meal 
offering  and  a  drink  offering  unto  the  Lord  your  God?' " 
And  again  the  summons  peals  forth  (v.  15):  '^  Blow  the 
trumpet  in  Zion,  sanctify  a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly : 
gather  the  people,  sanctify  the  congregation,  assemble 
the  old  men,  gather  the  children  and  those  that  suck  the 
breasts,  let  the  bridegroom  go  forth  out  of  his  chamber, 
and  the  bride  out  of  her  closet.  Let  the  priests,  the  min- 
isters of  the  Lord,  weep  between  the  porch  and  the  altar, 
and  let  them  say,  '  Spare  thy  people,  O  Lord,  and  give 
not  thine  heritage  to  reproach  that  the  heathen  should 
rule  over  them:  wdierefore  should  they  say  among  the 
peoples.  Where  is  their  God  ?  ' " 

What  effect  does  this  prayer  have  upon  Jehovah?  It 
is  surely  offered  from  the  heart.  Will  it  accomplish 
anything?  The  writer  tells  us:  "Then  was  Jehovah 
jealous  for  his  land,  and  took  pity  on  his  people."  And 
Jehovah  answ^ered  his  people. 

Will  you  go  back  to  the  beginning  with  me?  First, 
the  scourge  of  locusts,  then  the  drouth;  the  summons  to 
prayer  and  fasting,  and,  as  we  may  well  suppose,  the 
crying,  at  the  prophet's  advice,  to  God ;  which  is  followed 
by  a  ready  answer.  The  tenor  of  the  answer  is  given 
in  c.  ii,  V.  19.  We  have  a  promise  that  the  locusts  shall 
be  destroyed.  "O  Judah,  I  will  take  away  this  re- 
proach. I  will  remove  far  off  from  you  the  northern 
army,  and  will  drive  hian  into  a  land  barren  and  desolate, 
his  forepart  into  the  eastern  sea,  and  his  hinder  part 
into  the  w^estern  sea;  and  his  stink  shall  come  up  and 
his  ill-savor  shall  come  up."  In  other  words,  the  lo- 
custs which  had  brought  such  ravages  shall  be  utterly 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  12:^ 

destroyed.  But  that  is  not  all.  AVliat  ab;)ut  the  di'outh? 
In  V.  21,  seq.,  there  is  a  promise  that  abundant  rain  shall 
be  given :  "  O  land,  do  not  fear,  be  glad  and  rejoice ;  for 
the  Lord  hath  done  great  things.  Be  not  afraid,  ye 
beasts  of  the  field,  for  the  i)astures  of  the  wilderness  do 
spring,  for  the  tree  beareth  her  fruit,  the  fig-tree  and  the 
vine  do  yield  their  strength.  Be  glad,  then,  ye  childi^en 
of  Zion,  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  your  God :  for  He  giveth 
you  the  former  rain  in  due  measure,  and  He  causeth  to 
come  down  for  you  the  rain,  the  former  rain  and  the  lat- 
ter rain,  in  the  first  month.  And  the  floors  shall  be  .full 
of  wheat,  and  the  vats  shall  overflow  with  wine  and  oil. 
And  I  will  restore  to  you  the  years  that  the  locust  hath 
eaten,  the  cankerworm  and  the  caterpillar  and  the  palm- 
erworm,  my  great  army  which  I  sent  among  you.  And 
ye  shall  eat  in  plenty  and  be  satisfied  and  shall  praise  the 
name  of  the  Lord  your  God  that  hath  dealt  wondrously 
with  you :  and  never  again  shall  ye  thus  be  put  to  shame. 
And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  that 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  and  there  is  none  else:  and 
never  again  shall  ye  thus  be  put  to  shame." 

Will  you  go  back  again :  the  scourge  of  the  locusts,  the 
affliction  of  the  drouth,  the  di^awing  of  the  people  to- 
gether with  prayer  and  fasting,  and  the  answer  and 
promise  that  the  locusts  shall  be  destroyed,  and  the 
promise  that  I'ain  shall  come.  Simple,  natural,  and  com- 
plete, and  yet  not  complete.  The  prophet's  word  is  not 
finished.  Everything  up  to  this  time  has  had  to  do  with 
surrounding  circumstances.  Is  his  work  only  to  secure 
temporal  relief,  to  furnish  temporal  aid?    Let  us  see. 

On  the  next  day,  or  perhaps  during  the  next  week,  or 
perhaps  then  and  there,  he  continues  his  work;  the  ca- 
lamity is  still  in  their  minds,  for  the  promise  is  one  which 
requires  time  for  fulfillment.    The  prophet  speaks :  "  My 


124  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

fellow  countrj^men,  I  have  told  you  how  God  will  pour 
out  rain  upon  you,  and  upon  your  fields  and  flocks,  and 
I'elieve  you  of  this  drouth.  The  God  who  sent  you  that 
message  has  another.  Will  you  listen  to  it?  "  'And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will  pour  out  my 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters 
shall  prophesy,  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  your 
young  men  shall  see  visions:  And  also  upon  the  serv- 
ants and  upon  the  handmaids  in  those  days  will  I  pour 
out  my  Spirit.' " 

And  also  upon  the  servants  and  upon  the  handmaids 
in  those  days  will  I  pour  out  my  Spirit.' " 

Far-reaching,  deep  reaching  words.  What  do  they 
mean?*  God  had  promised  a  pouring  out  of  rain  when 
the  people  were  in  great  distress,  and  this  promise  is  of 
the  pouring  out  of  the  divine  Spirit.  The  latter  stands 
in  close  relation  to  the  former;  seems,  indeed,  to  have 
been  suggested  by  it:  pouring  out  of  water,  pouring  out 
of  the  Spirit;  temporal  gift,  spiritual  gift.  There  seems 
to  have  been  a  different  time  for  the  latter:  "And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  afterward/'  We  are  told  that  that  pouring 
out  of  the  Spirit  will  take  place  in  the  future,  and  yet 
the  time  is  left  very  indefinite.  In  many  prophecies  we 
read  of  the  outpouring  of  water  and  it  means  "abun- 
dance:" hence  we  may  infer  that  the  divine  Spirit  is  to 
be  given  in  rich  fullness.  While  we  have  instances  of 
the  application  of  the  Spirit  to  individuals,  to  prophets, 
to  priests  and  to  kings,  we  have  had  before  tliis  no  refer- 
ence to  the  application  of  it  to  all  flesh.  What  is  meant 
by  "all  flesh?"  Li  Gen.  vii.,  21,  it  is  used  to  include  an- 
imals, but  the  term  is  here  limited  to  men,  for  the  writer 
adds,  "your  sons  and  your  daughters,"  and  the  "your" 
can  only  refer  to  Judah  and  Israel.  Within  the  limits  of 

*  Cf.,  especially— Orelli's  Old  Testament  Propliecy. 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  125 

Judah  and  Israel,  the  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  is  uni- 
versal. There  is,  of  course,  a  sense  in  which  God's  Spirit 
is  for  all  flesh,  but  this  is  not  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
taken.  We  must  understand,  luther,  that  superhuman 
Spirit  which  inspires  and  gives  revelation.  Our  text  tells 
us  that  some  shall  prophesy-  and  speak,  and  others  shall 
receive  the  divine  Spirit.  It  is  meant  that  all  shall  do 
both. 

Kow,  what  does  i-t  all  mean?  That  the  time  is  coming 
when  every  inhabitant  of  Judah  shall  be  a  prophet, 
when  the  nation  shall  be  a  prophetic  nation,  testifying 
to  God  and  his  work;  just  as  elsewhere  they  are  called 
the  priesth'  nation,  that  is,  one  serving  God.  But  this 
is  the  highest  and  final  point  to  which  the  church  shall 
reach,  and  must  point  to  the  time  when  the  Messiah 
shall  come. 

Let  us  go  back  again.  First,  the  scourge  of  the  lo- 
custs: second,  the  terrible  drouth;  third,  prayer  and 
fasting:  fourth,  the  locusts  shall  be  removed:  fifth,  rain 
shall  be  iDoured  out  in  abundance:  and  sixth,  connected 
with  this,  a  higher  promise  of  the  outpouring  of  God's 
Spirit.  May  we  possibly  find  a  second  promise,  related 
to  the  promise  'of  the  locusts  as  this  of  the  Spirit  was 
to  the  outpouring  of  the  water?  Let  us  get  a  compar- 
ison: outpouring  of  water,  outpourng  of  the  Spirit;  the 
destruction  of  the  locusts ;  now  what  would  be  the  thing 
to  correspond?  It  must  be  the  destruction  of — Let  us 
wait  and  see.  What  would  be  most  advantageous  for 
Israel,  in  her  peculiar  circumstances.  The  destruction 
of  the  nations  who  have  been  hostile  to  Israel?  The 
prophet  says:  "God  has  delivered  you.  The  locusts  shall 
die  and  be  removed  from  the  land;  but,  Israel,  after  all, 
you  have  had  more  severe  enemies  than  locusts.  What 
about  these  Edomites,   Phoenicians,   Philistines,   who 


126  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

have  been  tormenting  you  from  the  day  you  entered 
Canaan?  What  about  the  Egyptians,  who  have 
only  recently  pillaged  your  city?  He  will  de- 
liver you  from  the  locusts,  He  will  also  deliver  you  from 
all  these  other  enemies."  This  dark  and  gloomy  time  is 
a  type  of  a  still  darker  period,  a  period  in  which  (v.  30), 
^'I  will  show  v>^onders  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth, 
blood  and  fire  and  pillars  of  smoke.  The  sun  shall  b3 
turned  into  darkness  and  the  moon  into  blood,  before 
the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come."  On  that 
day  (v.  32)  there  will  be  deliverance  in  Zion,  but  only 
to  those  who  call  upon  God's  name,  those  who  accept 
the  divine  Spirit  so  freely  poured  forth,  (c.  iii.,  1) :  "  Be- 
hold, in  that  day  the  nations  so  hostile,  all  thes8  shall 
be  brought  down  into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  I  will 
gather  all  nations,  and  bring  them  down  into  this  valley, 
and  plead  with  them  there  for  My  people,  and  for  My 
heritage,  Israel,  whom  they  have  scattered  among  the 
nations,  and  parted  My  land.  They  have  cast  lots  for 
My  people,  and  given  a  boy  for  a  harlot,  and  sold  a  girl 
for  wine,  that  they  might  drink.  Yes,  and  w^hat  are  ye 
to  Me,  oh  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  all  the  regions  of  Philis- 
tia?  Will  ye  render  Me  a  recompense,  and,  if  ye  recom- 
pense Me,  swiftly  and  speedily  w^ill  I  return  your  recom- 
pense u^  on  your  own  hi  ad.  Forasmuch  as  ye  have  taken 
My  silver  and  My  gold,  and  have  carried  into  your 
temples  My  gold  and  pleasant  things;  the  children  also 
of  Judah  and  the  childi^en  of  Jerusalem  ye  sold  unto  the 
sons  of  the  Grecians,  that  ye  might  remove  them  far 
from  the  border;  behold,  I  will  stir  them  up  out  of  the 
place  whither  ye  ,have  sold  them  and  will  return  your 
recompense  upon  your  head;  and  I  will  sell  your  sons 
and  your  daughters  into  the  hand  of  the  children  of 
Judah,  and  they  shall  sell  them  to  the  men  of  Sheba,  to 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  127 

the  nation  afar  off,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Be- 
cause they  have  done  these  things,  I  mil  destroy  them ; 
but  then,  in  a  wonderful  passage,  a  classic  passage 
(c.  iii.,  9-13)  the  prophet  gives  us  a  picture:  Jehovah, 
Israel's  khig,  issues  a  proclamation  to  the  nations,  calling 
them  to  the  conflict.  "O,  ye  nations,  come  and  gather 
yourselves  together:  thither  cause  thy  mighty  ones  to 
come  down,  O  Jehovah.  Let  the  nations  bestir  themselves, 
and  come  up  to  the  vahey  of  Jehoshaphat:  for  there  will  I 
sit  to  judge  all  nations  round  about."  Take  in  the  scene : 
God  seated  on  his  throne,  the  enemies  on  the  one  side,  Is- 
rael's armies  on  the  other.  Now  we  hear  the  decision 
of  the  Almighty :  ^'  Put  ye  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest 
is  ripe:"  the  judgment,  to  be  sure,  but  a  harvest,  rather 
'than  a  battle :  reaping  and  treading.  We  see  great  mul- 
titudes of  people  before  Jehovah's  awful  throne.  All 
nature  is  in  commotion:  the  Lord  roars  from  Zion,  the 
earth  quakes,  and  the  heavens  even  shake;  what  is  the 
outcome?  The  enemies  are  destroyed,  while  Jerusalem 
(v.  IT)  is  saved:  God  dwelling  in  her.  Jerusalem  not 
onl}^  saved,  but  holy  and  inviolable,  for  strangers  shall 
no  more  pass  through  her.  And  in  that  day  there  shall 
be  great  abundance  and  prosperity;  the  mountaiuB 
shall  di'op  down  sweet  wine,  and  the  hills  shall  flow 
with  milk  and  all  the  brooks  of  Judah  shall  flow  with 
waters,  and  out  of  the  house  of  Jehovah  shall  come  forth 
a  fountain  to  water  the  waste  places  of  the  earth.  Thus 
the  prophet  now  concludes :  "  My  friends,  your  enemies, 
Egypt,  Edom,  Phoenicia,  and  Philistia,  for  the  violence 
they  have  done  you,  just  like  the  locusts,  shall  be  de- 
stroyed. But  you,  O,  Judah,  shall  live  forever:  you 
shall  be  thoroughly  pui'ified,  and  God  shall  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  you." 
What  is  the  essential  idea?      There  are  three  views 


128  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

about  the  book  of  Joel.  We  will  listen  first  to  one  of 
them.  Joel,  in  extravagant  language,  predicts  a  nation- 
al revival,  and,  immediately  after,  carried  aAvay  with  his 
prophecy,  assures  his  credulous  and  deluded  hearers  that 
all  their  enemies  shall  be  destroyed.  Joel  meant  well  but 
he  and  all  who  heard  him  were  disappointed  and  deceived. 
This  is  one  extreme.  Here  is  another.  Joel,  the  inspired 
prophet  of  Jehovah,  knowing  the  mind  of  God,  knowing 
the  future,  speaks,  not  of  what  surrounds  the  people 
whom  he  addresses,  not  of  their  condition:  he  does  not 
think  of  their  needs,  but  is  thinking  of  the  far  distant 
future.  This  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  which  he 
speaks,  was  in  fact  nothing  which  they  experienced  in 
their  lives,  but  it  is  that  strange  and  miraculous  exper- 
ience of  Pentecost.  And,  as  to  the  judgment  of  the 
nations,  that,  in  the  prophet's  mind,  was  the  judgment 
day  of  all  the  world. 

Will  either  of  these  views  satisfy?  The  third  is  this: 
Joel,  starting  from  the  temporal  blessings  following  re- 
pentance, a  true  historical  situation,  inspired  from 
heaven,  depicts  the  future,  a  future  growing  out  of 
the  divine  will,  with  the  perils  of  Avhich  he,  God's 
prophet,  is  thoroughly  acquainted;  what  is  this  fu- 
tisre?  Blessings  in  showers,  the  Spirit  of  God, 
for  all  who  call  upon  God's  name:  punishment  severe 
and  terrible  for  Isi'ael's  enemies,  God's  enemies,  and 
even  for  Israel  herself,  so  far  as  she  is  not  obedient  to 
Jehovah.  What  was  the  fulfillment?  Joel's  predicted 
blessings  for  one  class,  punishment  for  another,  have 
been  fulfilled,  not  once  or  twice,  but  many  times.  It  was 
fulfilled  when  God  permitted  Judah  to  return  from  cap- 
tivity in  Babylon  and  destroj^ed  those  nations  who  had 
so  long  tormented  and  distressed  his  chosen  people. 
It  was  fulfilled  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  is  fulfilled 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  JOEL.  120 

in  every  revival  of  religious  interest  which  divine  grace 
has  since  that  clay  sent.  It  is  fulfilled  on  the  other  hand 
in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  every  judgment 
which  divine  justice  has  sent,  not  only  on  the  Jew^s,  and 
on  the  church,  hut  on  the  world.  The  prophecy  is  being 
fulfilled  to-day:  we  live  in  the  midst  of  its  fulfillment.  It 
will  be  finally  fulfilled  on  that  day  when  all  men  stand 
before  the  jadgment  throne. 

What  is  the  application?  There  were  two  main  ideas 
in  the  book.  Let  us  cast  aside  now  the  history,  the 
poet's  beautiful  description,  the  orator's  eloquent  per- 
iods. Let  us  crack  the  shell  to  find  the  kernel.  If  you, 
my  friends,  and  I,  are  in  trouble ;  if  affliction  of  any  kind 
has  come  upon  us,  if  the  day  is  dark  and  gloomy,  if  dan- 
ger besets  us,  there  is  but  one  thing  for  us  to  do,  and 
that  is,  to  turn  in  prayer  to  God  for  relief.  If  there  is 
drouth,  if  we  have  dried  up  within,  if  the  joy  of  Chris- 
tian experience  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  if  our 
hearts  have  become  dead  and  lifeless  things,  if  we  are 
at  the  point  of  spiritual  death,  there  is  but  one  thing  to 
do,  to  pray  for  an  outpouring  of  that  divine  Spirit,  which 
always  refreshes  and  always  is  ready  for  the  asking; 
and  that,  too,  in  gTeat  abundance.  Finally,  the  whole 
world  belongs  to  one  of  two  classes:  those  who  call 
upon  God's  name  and  acknowledge  Him,  and  those  who 
stand  aloof  and  oppose  the  progress  of  the  divine  king- 
dom. Shall  we  remember  that  it  is  the  teaching,  not  only 
of  the  Old  Testament,  but  of  the  New  as  well,  that  there 
awaits  one  class  the  wrath  of  the  just  Judge,  sep- 
aration from  a  loving  and  beneficent  Father;  while,  for 
the  other  there  is  stored  up  every  blessing  which  the 
wise,  omnipotent  God  can  bestow. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE    EXISTENCE    OF    GOD 

And  the  Necessity  of  a  Revelation  from  Him— Address  by  Rev  I.  D. 
Driver— Nebular  Theory— Origin  of  Matter,  Motion,  Thought— Ne- 
cessity of  Belief  in  Personal  Creator— Man  a  Trinity— Diflferences 
in  Sceptical  Relief— Man  only  Needs  a  Revelation— Remarkable 
Instincts  of  Animals— A  Sceptic's  Conversion. 

All  theories  of  cosmogony  admit  the  eternal  existence 
of  something.  If  we  imagine  all  worlds  and  every  form 
of  life  blotted  out  of  existence,  thus  annihilating  space, 
still  vacuity  would  exist ;  but  we  cannot  imagine  the  an- 
nihilation of  vacuity — and  w^ith  nothing  in  existence 
but  vacuity,  divested  of  all  forms  of  life  and  matter,  we 
cannot  imagine  the  rise  of  the  j^resent  order  of  things. 
"  Out  of  nothing,  nothing  comes,"  is  the  self-imposed 
faith  of  all  reasoning  beings. 

All  theories  accounting  for  the  existence  of  matter  in 
its  present  condition  and  forms  begin  with  something. 
The  "Nebular"  theory  begins  with  "fire  mist,"  at  which 
time  all  the  matter  now  composing  the  present,  solar 
system  was  so  light  and  attenuated  as  to  fill  all  the 
present  space  to  its  utmost  boundary.  By  cooling  and 
contracting  a  ring  was  formed  and  detached  from  the 
parent  body  which  marks  the  present  orbit  of  Neptune, 
now  about  one  billion  and  a  half  miles  from  the  sun.  By 
aggregation  and  consolidation,  the  "ring"  was  formed 
into  a  world  and  is  now  moving  in  the  same  orbit  the  ring 
moved  at  the  time  of  detachment.  Meanwhile  the  resi- 
dual mass  kept  cooling  and  contracting  until  a  vast  space 
existed  between  the  present  mass  and  its  first  offspring, 
when,  by  the  same  process,  another  ring  was  formed  and 
ill  due  time  another  child  was  born  into  the  family  of 

130 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  131 

worlds.  These  children,  following  the  example  of  their 
great  parent,  by  the  same  process  and  under  the  same 
laws,  gave  birth  to  a  satellite,  a  grandchild  of  the  great 
parent  mass.  Still  the  great  parent  mass  kept  cooling, 
contracting  and  throwing  off  worlds,  and  these  worlds, 
by  the  same  process,  throwing  off  satellites  until  tne 
world  we  inhabit  was  thrown  off  from  the  sun  and  our 
moon  from  our  world,  when  the  solar  s^^stem  w^as  com- 
pleted. 

This,  to  sa}^  the  least,  is  a  beautiful  theory,  but  fails  to 
account  for  the  fundamental  idea,  and  as  Tyndall  says, 
''leaves  the  great  mj^steries  of  nature  unexi)lored." 
AVhere  did  motion  come  from  ?  What  inaugurated 
rotar}^  motion  ?  How  account  for  some  planets  moving 
in  an  opposite  direction  from  others  ?  If  motion  was 
communicated  from  the  parent  mass,  all  must  move 
in  the  same  direction.  Can  w^e  conceive  of  a  body  com- 
municating a  motion  diametrically  the  opposite  of  its 
own  ? 

For  all  theories  we  must  have  a  "  beginning,"  and  can 
w^e  have  a  "  beginning ''  without  a  beginner  ?    Let  us  see. 

Where  did  "  fire  mist "  come  from  ?  What  caused  it 
to  begin  "  cooling  and  contracting  ?"  We  dare  not  say 
the  "  cooling  and  contracting  "  were  eternal,  for  if  so,  it 
must  have  been  "  heating  and  expanding  "  eternally,  and 
this  w^ould  not  only  carry  it  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
solar  system,  but  through  the  universe  itself,  annihilat- 
ing every  system  but  its  own  and  destroying  the  very 
idea  of  different  systems.  Does  not  the  transmutation 
df  species  involve  the  same  idea  ? 

But  leaving  these  speculative  thoughts,  let  us  return 
to  the  eternal  existence  of  something,  by  whatever  name 
it  may  be  called,  whether  ^'  Cell,"  ''  Protoplasm,"  ''  Fire 
Mist,"  ''  Force,"  or,  as  Herbert  Spencer  says,  ''  the  uu- 


132  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

known  and  unlvnowable."  Let  us  ask  ourselves  (by 
wliateyer  name  we  may  call  it) — Did  it  possess  intelli- 
gence ?  Willi  absolute  certainty  it  did  or  did  not. 
Which  shall  we  say  ?  If  we  say  it  did,  we  make  it  a 
supreme  intelligence — for  as  there  could  be  nothing 
superior  or  anterior  to  it,  we  certainly  make  it  supreme. 
Then  if  w^e  add  intelligence,  it  unquestionably  becomes 
a  supreme  intelligence.  If  we  say  it  did  not  possess 
intelligence,  we  must  either  deny  our  own  intelligence, 
or  admit  that  it  has  communicated  what  it  does  not  pos- 
sess, which  "evolution"  itself  can  not  do;  for  "evolu- 
tion" can  never  evolve  that  which  the  source  did  not 
possess.  The  theory  that  grinds  out  of  a  mill  something 
that  nevQr  was  in  the  mill,  annihilates  the  mill  and 
destroys  itself. 

But  let  us  try  our  minds  from  another  standpoint  and 
ask  ourselves  three  questlors.  Where  did  matter  come 
from?  With  absolute  certainty  it  was  created. or  it  is 
eternal.  If  we  say  it  was  created,  we  admit  a  personal 
creator  a::d  there  is  an  end  of  the  controversy.  But  if, 
with  ancient  Greeks  and  modern  materialists,  we  say  it 
was  eternal,  then  let  us  ask  the  second  question — Where 
did  motion  come  from?  Like  matter  it  was  created  or 
it  is  eternal.  If  motion  was  created,  there  is  a  personal 
creator.  But  if  we  say  motion  is  eternal,  let  us  ask  our- 
selves the  third  question — Where  did  thought  come 
from?  It,  like  the  t\vo  former,  was  created  or  it  is 
eternal — which  shall  we  say?  It  matters  not,  for  either 
gives  the  same  answer.  For,  if  thought  Avas  created, 
there  is  a  personal  creator,  or  if  thought  is  eternal,  there 
is  an  eternal,  thinking  being,  and  either  one  is  God.  The 
only  way  to  get  rid  of  the  idea  of  a  supreme  intelligence 
is  to  deny  our  own  intelligence.  The  moment  that  we 
admit  that  we  ourselves  i>ossess  intelligence,  we  are 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOU.        «  133 

compelled  to  admit  that  it  was  in  tlie  cause  from  ^^lli^•il 
our  own  was  derived. 

We  have  already  seen,  if  tlioiiglit  is  eternal  tlien  there 
must  be  an  eternal,  thinking  being,  and  beyond  this  we 
are  unable  to  think — for  thought  reaches  its  utmost 
limits  in  the  selr'-evident  propositions,  that  whatever 
else  Gcd  could  make  he  could  not  make  himself,  for  this 
would  make  him  act  before  he  existed;  and  whatever 
else  thought  ma 3'  thiidi,  it  can  never  think  itself  out  of 
existence.  Xeither  can  we  find  the  beginning  of  life. 
Ask  the  Bible  for  its  origin  in  man,  and  we  are  told,  ''He 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life.''  Ask  na- 
ture and  science  and  one  word  tells  the  history  of  life 
in  the  animal  and  vegetable  world — ''transmitted." 

As  "life"  is  eternal  so  is  "force,"  and  the  aggregate 
amount  of  force  can  never  be  increased  or  diminished. 
Let  the  Appenines,  the  Andes  and  the  Alps  be  wrapt  in 
one  general  conflagration  and  send  their  lurid  volumes  of 
fire  and  smoke  to  heaven,  and  the  Eocky  Mountains  of 
the  once  far  west  participate  in  the  general  burning,  and 
the  aggregate  amount  of  heat  will  nut  be  increased. 
''There  is  no  jwwer  "but  of  God,  the  powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God." — Eom.  xiii.,  I. 

B.  F.  Underwood,  of  the  Boston  "Investigator,"  in  a 
pami^hlet  he  published,  asked,  "^^llo  made  the  Chris- 
tians' God?"  Now  suppo/se  I  could  answer  him  and  tell. 
If  he  had  the  logical  powers  of  a  bright  fifteen-year-old 
boy,  he  would  retort  by  saying:  "If  your  God  was 
'  made,'  he  was  a  creature,"  and  as  he  Avho  made  him 
was  superior  and  anterior  to  him  your  God  was  only  a 
creature,  and  he  who  made  him  was  God,  and  his  ques- 
tion repeated  would  be  overturned  by  the  same  answer 
ad  infinitum.  AVhat  a  contrast  between  his  logic  and 
that  of  the  Hebrew  prophet:  "Before  me  there  was  no 


134  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES." 

God  formed,  neither  shall  there  be  after  me/' — ^Isa. 
xliii.,  10. 

This  supreme  intelligence  must  be  a  trinitj  in  unitj. 
The  evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  man  is  a 
trinity  in  unity,  and  no  theory  can  describe  his  powers, 
relate  his  history  or  unfold  his  develoj^ment  without  ad- 
mitting it. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  contains  all  the  grades  of  life 
known  in  the  universe,  and  comes  into  existence  in  the 
very  order  laid  down  by  Moses : 

First — Vegetable  life,  called  by  Moses  the  "  herb"  or 
"  tree  whose  seed  was  in  itself." 

Second — Animal  life,  called  by  Moses  the  "  moving 
creature," 

Third — Rational  life,  ''In  tlie  image  of  God  and 
after  his  Idleness." 

Tyndall,  Huxley,  Darwin,  and  all  naturalists,  speak- 
ing of  his  body,  call  it  "  man,"  and  the  terms  they  em- 
ploy are  incapable  of  misconstruction — a  "  high  man," 
a  "  low  man,"  a  "  heavy  man,"  a  "  light  man  " — using 
these  terms  they  have  no  more  reference  to  his  mental 
powers  than  they  have  to  a  steam  engine.  Describing 
his  mental  powers,  they  say  he  is  an  "educated  man," 
an  "illiterate  man,"  a  "wise  man,"  a  "foolish  man." 
They  have  no  more  reference  to  his  body  than  to  the 
dwelling-house  in  which  he  lives. 

Speaking  of  his  moral  powers  they  call  him  a  "good 
man,"  a  "bad  man,"  a  "pure  man,"  a  "vicious  man." 
They  now  have  no  reference  to  his  mental  or  physical 
powers,  as  he  may  be  the  wisest  man  in  the  world  and 
yet  the  worst  man. 

Now,  if  I  possess  these  three  grades  of  life  which  con- 
stitute me  a  trinity  in  unity,  I  am  unable  to  evade  the 
conclusion  that  the  source  whence  my  existence  was  de- 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD  135 

rived  must  also  possess  them,  or  that  it  has  given  me 
something  which  it  itself  does  not  possess,  and  this, 
to  me,   is  unthinlwhle. 

The  same  result  is  reached,  and  the  same  conclusions 
forced  upon  me,  when  I  contemj)late  the  duration  of 
that  unknown  and  unknowable,  that  never  had  a  be- 
ginning and  will  never  have  an  end.  It  is  measured 
by  the  past,  present  and  future.  The  "  past"  is  of  in- 
finite duration;  so  is  the  "future"  and  the  "xH'esent." 
A  procession  from  the  past  is  co-extensive  with  the 
past,  hence  we  see  the  past  is  infinite.  Time,  or  the 
"  present,"  proceeding  from  it,  is  just  as  long  as  the 
past  and  the  future  is  infinite;  or  the  past  is  eternal,  the 
present  has  been  eternally  coming,  and  the  future  eter- 
nal duration.  Here  are  three  infinites  in  one  infinite  ; 
three  eternals  in  one  eternal — either  one  is  as  long  as 
all  three,  and  all  thi'ee  are  no  longer  than  either  one. 
Like  an  eternal  approximation,  yet  never  attaining  a 
given  point,  the  conclusion  is  forced  upon  our  minds, 
though  in  neither  case  are  we  able  to  comprehend  it. 

This  eternal  existence  revealed  to  Moses,  "  Eheyeli 
asher  eheyeh,"  rendered  in  our  English  version  "  I  am 
that  I  am;"  translated  by  the  Septuagint,  "Ego  emi 
ho  on," — "I  am  he  Avho  exists;"  by  the  Vulgate,  "Ego 
Sum  Qui  Sum," — "I  am  who  I  am."  The  Arabic  para- 
phrases them — "  The  eternal  who  passeth  not  away." 
— Clarke.  These  words  recorded  by  Moses,  so  wonder- 
fully expressive  of  a  self-existent  eternal  being,  were 
caught  up  by  the  Greek  travelers  and  writers  who  had 
a-ccess  to  the  Avj-itings  of  Moses,  and  may  be  found  in  the 
works  of  their  leading  philosophers.  Clement,  of  Alex- 
andria, president  of  that  gi^eat  school,  quotes  multi- 
tudes of  Greek  authors,  whose  works  perished  in  that 
greatest  library  the  world  has  ever  known,  all  admit- 


136  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

ting  the  aniiqinty  of  Moses,  and  confessing  they  got 
their  knowledge  of  God  from  him.  Numinius,  as  quo- 
ted by  Clement,  says,  'Tor  what  is  Plato  hut  Moses 
spealdng  in  Attic  Greek."  Justin  Martyr,  a  converted 
philosopher,  who  wrote  the  first  Christian  apology 
to  the  Emperor  of  Rome  shortly  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  quotes  a  vast  number  of  Greek  authors 
to  show  that  all  the  knowledge  the  Greeks  had  of  God 
they  got  from  Moses.  They  were  never  contradicted, 
and  their  quotations  from  authors,  still  extant,  show 
how  correct  and  careful  they  were.  Aristotle  says  the 
Greek  word  "aion"  is  comi^ounded  of  ''  aei"  ahvays, 
and  "  on,"  being,  "  because  God  always  is."  De  Cielo, 
lib.  1,  chap.  9  ;  and  the  language,  thought  and  con- 
struction of  his  sentence  shows  that  it  was  taken  from 
Moses. 

Let  me,  as  a  specimen,  quote  a  single  passage  from 
Justin  Martyr  in  his  "Hortatory  address  to  the 
Greeks,"  chap.  25.  Speaking  of  l*lato,  he  says  :  "  For 
being  charmed  with  the  saying  of  Moses,  *I  am  the 
really  existing,'  and  accepting  with  a  great  deal  of 
thought  the  participial  expression,  he  understood  that 
God  desired  to  slgnif^^  to  Moses  his  eternity,  and  there- 
fore said,  '  I  am  the  really  existing,'  for  the  w^ord  ex- 
isting expresses  not  one  time  onl}-,  but  the  three  :  the 
past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  For  when  Plato 
says,  '  and  which  never  is,'  he  uses  the  verb  '  is  '  of 
time  indefinite.  For  the  word  '  never '  is  not  spoken 
as  some  suppose,  of  the  past,  but  of  future  time.  And 
this  has  been  accurately  understood  by  profane  writ- 
ers. And,  therefore,  when  Plato  wished,  as  it  were, 
to  interpret  to  the  uninitiated  what  had  been  mystic- 
ally expressed  by  the  participle  concerning  the  eternity 
of   God,   he  employed  the   following  language:  'God, 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  137 

indeed,  as  the  old  tradition  runs,  includes  the  beginning, 
and  end,  and  middle  of  all  things.'  In  this  sentence 
he  plainly  and  obviously  names  the  law  of  Moses  the 

*  old  tradition,'  fearing,  through  dread  of  the  hemlock 
cup,  to  mention  the  name  of  Moses,  for  he  understood 
the  teachings  of  the  man  were  hateful  to  the  Greeks. 

*  *  *  And  Diodorus  says  that  Moses  was  the 
first  of  all  lawgivers,  the  letters  Avhich  belong  to  the 
Greeks,  and  which  they  employed  in  the  writings  of 
their  histories,  having  not  yet  been  discovered."  This, 
and  midtitudes  of  similar  passages,  written  in  the  first 
struggles  of  Christianity  with  paganism,  sliow  how 
deeply  God's  revelation  to  Moses  entered  into  the  coii- 
trovers}',  and  the  deep  and  lasting  effect  that  wonder- 
ful passage  has  had  on  the  minds  of  thinking  men  frojii 
the  time  it  was  uttered  to  Moses  to  the  present  day. 
And,  after  it  has  been  carefully  studied  for  three 
thousand  thiee  hundred  years,  our  oAvn  minds  stagger 
in  confusion  as  we  struggle  to  grasp  the  mighty  thoughts 
conveyed  in  the  utterance  "I  am  that  I  am;"  and  the 
compass  is  no  truer  to  the  pole  than  all  succeeding 
revelation  is  to  this  form  of  speech.  When  speaking 
of  the  existence  of  God,  nine  hundred  years  after  this, 
the  prophet  says  (Psa.  xc.-2),  "from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  thou  art  God."  Not  thou  icast,  for  that 
would  confine  his  existence  to  the  past  ;  nor  thou  shalt 
be,  for  that  would  include  only  the  future  ;  but  thou 
art,  which,  as  Justin  Martyr  says,  is  of  time  indefinite, 
and  includes  the  past,  presant  and  future.  Then,  six 
hun(h'ed  and  fifty  years  after  this,  when  he  was  incar- 
nated and  the  Jews  asked  him,  "  Thou  art  not  yet  fifty 
years  old  and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham?"  the  very  word 
uttered  from  the  bush  one  thousand  five  hundred  years 
before   is   repeated,   "A^erily   I   say   unto   thee,   before 


138  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Abraham  was  I  am."  John  yiii.,  58.  And  Paul,  de- 
scribing his  attributes  (Col  i.,  IT)  says:  "He  is  before 
all  things."  And  in  Eev.  i.,  8,  "Who  is  and  who  was 
and  who  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 

Can  any  one  believe  that,  without  supernatural  aid, 
a  succession  of  writers  for  one  thousand  six  hundred 
years  expressed  such  a  thought  in  language  that  de- 
scribes an  existence  that  includes  past,  present  and  fu- 
ture ;  or,  as  another  one  expressed  it,  the  "  High  and 
Lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity?"  Isa.  Ivii.,  15. 
As  soon  could  I  believe  that  a  ship,  without  a  pilot, 
made  its  way  from,  the  ocean  one  thousand  five  hun- 
tb'ed  miles  up  the  Mississippi  river. 

Paine,  in  his  "Age  of  Eeason,"  says — "I  believe 
in  one  God  and  no  more."  ]No  Christian,  Jew^,  or  Mo- 
hammedan ever  believed  anything  else.  Neither  did 
Mr.  Paine  believe  that  because  man  is  possessed  of  a 
mental,  moral  and  physical  nature  he  is  therefore  three 
men,  but  that  it  takes  the  three  to  make  one  man. 

Having  briefly  examined  some  of  the  evidences  of 
the  existence  and  nature  of  God,  the  next  thought 
that  naturally  suggests  itself  is  this  :  a  natural  neces- 
sity for  a  revelation  from  Him.  An  affirmative  answer 
settles  the  question,  for  no  natural  necessity  ever  ex- 
isted, nor  can  exist,  where  theie  is  nothing  to  meet 
it.  There  is  no  necessity  for  ijrolonging  the  life  of  a 
beast,  a  bird  or  a  fish,  or  extending  their  existence  be- 
yond the  present,  as  every  object  of  their  being  is  an- 
swered and  all  progress  impossible.  Nothing  useful 
could  be  effected  by  giving  them  a  future  state  of  exis- 
tence, w^hen  all  their  aspirations,  attributes  and  powers 
have  reached  their  full  development  in  this.  The  first 
beaver  that  built  a  dam  made  as  good  a  one  as  a  beaver 
can  ever  build.  No  bird  will  ever  build  a  better  nest  than 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  139 

the  first  one  made.  Every  creature,  animal  and  vege- 
table, must  have  opportunity  and  time  to  develop  its 
growth,  or  mature  its  powers,  and  every  creature  but 
man  does  that  in  this  world. 

Man  alone  is  out  of  proportions.  Let  him  live  in 
this  world  until  he  has  learned  its  geology,  chemistry, 
and  the  material  composing  its  solid  contents,  and 
he  is  still  thirsting  for  knowledge.  His  labor  and 
research  have  only  increased  his  powers  and  x^repared 
him  for  greater  achievements.  With  instruments  of  his 
own  devising  he  discovers  Avorlds  scattered  through  in- 
finite spa«e,  W'hile  hi.s  aspirations  and  capabilities 
are  as  limitless  as  the  space  into  Avhicli  he  looks,  or 
eternal  duration  which  he  contemi)lates.  But,  without 
a  revelation  as  a  moral  being,  all  his  capabilities  and 
powers  are  worthless,  as  he  possesses  no  faculty  by 
which  he  is  able  to  determine  what  is  right  or  wrong,  as 
we  shall  see  in  our  second  lecture. 

Give  to  man  a  "  rule  of  action  "  and  no  limit  can  be 
set  to  his  progress;  but  a  perfect  "rule"  he  never  can 
make.  Give  him  a  "  seed"  and  he  can  develop  and 
multiply  it  forever,  but  he  never  can  make  a  "  seed." 
Plan's  nature  demands  a  law,  and  under  a  "perfect 
kiw^ "  his  deathless  energies  will  expand  forever.  Deny 
him  this  law^,  and  he  is  the  most  helpless  creature  that 
God  has  made.  Every  other  creature  is  a  law^  unto  itself, 
and  needs  nothing  higher.  Without  a  line,  square, 
rule,  or  plumb,  each  can  construct  its  ow^n  habitation^ 
Without  a  compass,  quadrant,  or  chronometer,  each 
can  traverse  the  seas  or  migrate  from  clime  to  clime. 
The  sight  of  sea-fowls  quieted  the  mutinous  spirit  of 
Columbus'  sailors.  Says  a  historian — "some  appeared 
to  be  weary  and  settled  on  the  masts  of  his  ships  ;  here 
they  remained  all  night,  but  in  the  morning  they  de- 


140  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

parted  and  flew  to  the  west,  when  the  most  lively  joy 
filled  the  hearts  of  the  seamen."  The  birds  followed 
their  own  instincts  ;  Columhus  follow^ed  his  compass, 
and  without  it  he  never  would  have  again  seen  his 
native  country. 

Take  from  the  navigator  of  to-day  his  nautical  in- 
struments and  the  stupid  booby  that  settles  on  the 
mast  of  his  ship  to  refresh  its  weary  frame  can  make 
its  way  to  land  and  leave  him  to  perish  at  the  mercy 
of  the  winds  and  Avaves.  The  sea-gull  that  follows  his 
craft,  to  pick  up  the  crumbs  of  bread  that  fall  from 
his  table,  always  keeps  its  reckoning  in  itself — but  man 
can  never  depend  on  himself  alone  for  guidance.  A  law 
or  an  instrument  is  his  guide,  and  his  faith  in  follow- 
ing them  determines  his  course.  How  forcibly  these 
ideas  are  impressed  by  all  the  teachings  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. For  example — "Yea,  the  stork  in  the  heavens 
knoweth  her  appointed  times,  the  turtle,  the  crane  and 
the  swallow  observe  the  time  of  their  coming,  but  my 
people  know  not  the  judgment  of  their  God." 

The  bee,  without  compass,  square  or  line,  can  so 
shape  his  cell  that  the  mathematician  demonstrates 
it  loses  the  least  space. — Brought  overland,  a  distance 
of  two  thousand  miles,  over  mountains  and  deserts, 
shut  out  from  all  communication  with  the  world  around, 
when,  at  intervals,  the  emigrant  stopped  to  rest  his 
teams  and  wash  his  clothes,  confident  of  the  capabilities 
of  the  little  creature,  he  opened  their  habitation  and 
let  them  go.  Yet,  in  this  strange  country  to  which  they 
were  brought  in  darkness,  they  were  perfectly  at  home  ; 
and  among  the  hundreds  of  strange  substances,  eight 
or  ten  thousand  of  them  made  several  selections  in  a 
day,  yet,  not  in  a  single  instance,  is  one  deceived  ;  and 
in  perfect  confidence  Ave  eat  the  fruits  of  their  labor, 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  141 

involving  millions  of  selections,  with  a  definite  under- 
standing that  if  one  made  a  mistake  our  life  would  pay 
the  penalty.  Yet  we  eat  ^^itllout  exciting  a  fear.  We 
can  trust  the  instinct  of  the  bee,  but  we  can  not  trust 
the  God -who  gave  it  the  instinct;  or,  perhaps,  deny 
th^  relation  between  cause  and  effect  by  doubting  his 
existence.  But  we  have  not  yet  stated  the  full  measure 
of  the  little  creature's  capabilities.  Thousands  of  miles 
from  whence  it  was  born,  and  all  the  way  brought  in 
darkness,  it  le.ives  its  home  in  search,  of  wealth,  which 
it  never  fails  to  distinguish  from  every  poisonous  thing, 
and  when  it  has  procuied  its  precious  burden,  rises  in 
a  circle  and  when  it  takes  its  course,  you  take  its  bear- 
ing by  your  compass  and  follow  it  and  you  will  strike 
its  habitation  ;  and  yet,  our  naturalists  tell  us  a  bee 
can  see  but  a  few  feet. 

All  animals  are  supplied  by  nature  with  means  of 
escape  and  modes  of  i^rotection.  To  one  is  given  a  tooth, 
to  another,  a  sting,  others  are  clothed  with  quills,  fleet- 
ness,  color,  etc.  ;  but  no  creature  is  put  in  a  helpless 
condition — and. just  as  exposure  increases  and  dangers 
increase,  modes  of  i^rotection  are  added  and  ways  of 
escape  are  multiplied. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  deer.  To  all  carnivorous  ani- 
mals, able  to  destroy  him,  he  is  a  special  object  of 
desiie,  while  man,  with  his  wonderful  instruments  of 
destruction,  destroys  him  for  food  and  sport  ;  yet,  see 
how  nature  protects  him.  What  fleetness  and  capabil- 
ity for  endurance.  How  keen  his  sight.  How  shari> 
his  hearing.  How  acute  his  smell.  And,  in  addition 
to  all  these,  nature  comes  around  four  times  a  3'ear  and 
paints  him  a  new  color,  so  that  he  is  always  kept  the 
color  of  the  objects  among  which  he  moves. 

i^ow,  while  all  "  natui-al  necessities"  are  met  in  all 


14:2  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

the  realms  of  nature  (and  without  it  no  creature  could 
subsist),  is  man,  the  highest  necessity  in  the  universe 
whose  nature  demands  a  "rule  of  action,"  overlooked? 
Is  there  nothing  to  meet  the  demands  of  his  nature? 
The  very  assumption  is  unaccountahly  straoge;  es- 
pecially when  we  consider  that  the  assumption  is  con- 
tradicted by  every  fact  in  nature. 

For  many  years  I  have  believed  that  all  rejection 
of  the  Bible,  as  a  revelation  from  God,  was  either 
the  result  of  misinterpretation  or  a  diseased  moral  na- 
ture. 

I  was  le(Lto  this  conclusion  in  the  early  part  of  my 
ministry  by  an  incident  which  occurred,  which  is  still 
talked  of  by  those  who  were  then  and  are  still  sceptical. 
A  naturalist  and  a  man  of  culture,  who  was  traveling 
on  this  coast,  was  taken  sick  in  the  city  where  I  was 
stationed  and  went  to  the  hospital  for  treatment.  After 
some  time  it  became  evident  that  he  must  die.  One 
evening,  after  dark,  the  physician  in  charge  of  the  hos- 
l)ital  came  to  my  ho-use  and  said,  "Mr  Driver,  I  waift 
you  to  come  and  see  that  sick  stranger;  he  is  going  to 
die.  I  am  not  a  professor  of  religion,  but  it  makes  me 
feel  bad  to  hear  him  talk — he  does  not  believe  in  the 
Bible  or  Christianity." 

I  had  heard  of  the  man's  ability  and  felt  reluctant  to 
go,  but  a  sense  of  duty  impelled  me  and  I  went  with  the 
doctor.  Seldom  have  I  met  a  finer-looking  man,  or  felt 
a  kinder  grasp  of  the  hand,  than  he  gave  me.  Seating 
myself  beside  his  bed,  I  said : 

"  Sir,  you  seem  quite  ill." 

Without  hesitancy  or  apparent  concern,  he  said : 

"Yes;  I  am  going  to  die." 

I  asked,  "Have  you  the  consolations  of  religion  to 
comfort  you?" 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  143 

He  replied:  "I  do  not  believe  in  the  Bible,  nor  the  re- 
ligion it  teaches.  Nature  is  the  altar  at  which  1  have 
worshipped;  she  has  been  my  guide;  her  teachings  I 
obey." 

I  began  to  offer  him  evidences.  He  stopped  me  by 
saying: 

''You  are  a  well  man;  if  I  were  well  I  could  answer 
all  your  arguments."  • 

This,  of  course,   disarmed  me,  and  1  saw  if  I   could 
not  move  his  moral  nature  I  had  better  say  no  niore. 
1  said: 
'^  You  speak  of  nature  as  a  guide." 
He  said,  "  Yes;  she  is  infallible." 

Looliing  deep  into  his  beautiful  blue  eyes,  I  said  to 
him,  "•!,  too,  profess  to  have  been  educated  in  the  same 
school;  is  it  not  strange  that,  receiving  our  instruction 
from  the  same  teacher,  we  should  arrive  at  opposite 
conclusfons?    Certain! 3^  one  or  the  other  of  us  has  mis- 
interpret(:d,  or  the  teacher  has  deceived  us." 
He  said,  "It  is  not  in  the  teacher." 
I  replied,  "  The  mistake,  then,  is  in  me  o-r  you.    Now% 
is  it  worth  Avhile  to  compare  opinions?    If  I  have  mis- 
interpreted, I  know  it  has  been  honestly  done,  and  I 
have  a  sincere  desire  to  correct  it." 
He  said,  "Tliat  is  right;  I  feel  so,  too." 
He  looked  very  earnestly  at  me,  and  I  asked,  "In  all 
your  researches  have  yoir  ever  foirnd  a  creature  whose 
nature  was  opposed  to  its  api)etite?" 

After  some  hesitation,  he  said,  "No;  such  a  creature 
can  not  exist.    With  a  carnivorous  stomach  and  a  her- 
bivorous appetite,  it  could  only  live  until  it  starved 
to  death,  and  propagation  would  be  imi)ossible." 
"Are  there  any  except! orrs  to  this  law?" 
He  said,  "Xo;  none  in  the  animal  or  vegetable  world." 


144  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

I  said,  "You  think  you  are  going  to  die?" 

"Yes." 

"And  that  death  will  terminate  your  existence?" 

"Yes" 

"Now,  answer  me — have  you  not  an  appetite  for  some- 
thing you  have  not  got?" 

"Yes;  I  want  to  live." 

"How  long  do  you  want  to  live?" 

Looking  confused,  he  said,  "I  can't  tell  you." 

I  said,  "You  must  look  to  the  utmost  limits  of  desire 
and  tell  me  where  it  is." 

With  animation  he  said,  "  I  can't." 

"May  I  assist  you?" 

"Yes." 

"Suppose  you  could  now  be  assured  that  you  shall 
live  until  a  creature  should  come  from  a  remote  part  of 
the  universe  and  carry  a  grain  of  sand  and  deposit  it, 
and  in  a  thousand  years  return  and  continue  to  do  so  at 
these  intervals  until  the  last  gi'ain  of  sand  and  drop  of 
water  composing  the  solid  contents  of  the  globe  should 
be  removed,  and  then  this  wall  now  before  you  should 
be  met  in  ceasing  to  act,  think  and  be  forever,  would 
that  meet  the  demands  of  your  appetite?" 

He  said,  "No." 

"Do  you  know^  of  anything  that  would?" 

In  gi'eat  bewilderment  he  said,  "No." 

"And  yet  you  say  that  everything  in  nature  teaches 
there  must  be.  Now,  I  am  not  going  to  say  that  my 
Bible  is  true  or  its  religion  is  true,  but  would  this 
meet  the  demands  of  your  appetite?" — and  I  quoted 
Christ's  words,  John  vi.,  51 :  "I  am  the  living  bread  which 
came  down  from  heaven ;  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread  he 
shall  live  forever" — and  his  eyes  flashed  like  fire,  and 
he  said,  "Yes,  it  would — I  have  misinterpreted  nature; " 


THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD.  145 

and  he  asked  me  to  read  the  Bible  and  pray  with  him, 
I  stayed  with  him  till  late  at  night  and  wonderful  was 
the  change.    I  never  saw  him  again  alive. 

This  was  nearly  twenty-nine  years  ago,  and  hundreds 
of  times  have  I  thought  of  the  stranger,  and,  as  I  write, 
I  distinctly  remember  his  face  and  anxious  look.  And 
but  a  few  years  ago  I  vras  riding  with  a  sceptical  gen- 
tleman of  high  intelligence,  Avho  lived  in  the  city  at 
the  time  of  the  occurrence;  he  spoke  of  the  incident 
about  which  the  doctor  had  told  him,  and  said  it  had 
always  been  a  subject  of  great  perplexity. 

How  strange,  when  we  look  at  man,  the  onl}^  race  of 
intelligence  inliabiting  our  globe,  and  the  only  creature 
whose  nature  opposes  its  appetite;  I  say,  how  strange, 
when  we  see  him  so  bewildered  as  to  crush  out  of  his 
own  nature  and  do  all  he  can  to  destroy  in  others  a 
desire  for  the  very  thing  for  which  he  would  give  the 
material  wealth  of  the  universe  if  that  wealth  were  all 
his  own!  Can  a  natural  necessity  exist  that  is  unpro- 
vided for?  We  have  seen  it  can  not.  ''Ask  now  the 
beasts  and  they  shall  teach  thee;  and  the  fowls  of  the 
air  and  they  shall  tell  thee;  and  the  lishes  of  the  sea 
shall  declare  unto  thee." — Job  xii.,  7,  8.  Man,  the  highest 
of  all  natural  necessities,  can  not  be  an  exception — and 
in  our  next  lecture  we  shall  see  that  in  the  Bible  that 
necessity  is  met. 


CHAPTEE   XII. 

FOUR  GREAT  RELIGIOUS  CERTITUDES. 

Address  by   Bishop   C.   D.   Foss— Not  Lunar  Politics— A  personal   God 
the   Need   of   Philosophy   and   Humanity— The   Bible   His   Revela 
tion— Christ  Reconciling  the  World  to  Himself— Salvation  by  Christ 
—His    Resurrection    Power    in    Us— Immortality— Bishop    Matthew 
Simpson— Visions  of  Departing  Souls. 

I  propose  to  speak  this  morning  of  four  great  religious 
certitudes.  Is  the  moon  inhabited  by  people  like  our- 
selves? The  moon  has  certain  well  understood  relations 
to  this  w^orld,  but  who  ever  thought  it  w^orth  his  while 
to  inquire  into  its  politics?  Yet  one  of  the  great  mas- 
ters of  the  skeptical  thought  of  our  time,  Prof.  Huxley, 
styles  all  the  sober  speculations  of  Christian  i>hilosoi)hy 
as  akin  to  lunar  politics.  Has  it,  then,  come  to  this, 
in  almost  the  last  decade  of  this  nineteenth  century  of 
grace,  when  the  Christian  religion  dominates  the  brain, 
w^ealth,  science  and  philosophy  of  the  w-orld,  when  all 
the  foremost  nations  (including,  recently,  Japan)  date 
their  letters  from  the  birth  in  the  manger  at  Bethlehem, 
when  courts  are  sanctified  by  an  oath  taken  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  are  we  to  be  told  by  the  speculation  of  the  time 
that  the  majestic  forces  which  constitute  this  movement 
are  akin  to  the  politics  of  the  moon? 

From  such  blighting  agnosticism,  let  us  turn  to  delight 
our  souls  with  four  mountain  peaks,  central  and  eternal, 
of  religious  certainty.  First,  I  point  you  beyond  the 
clouds  of  man's  sin  and  the  mists  of  man's  unbelief  to  the 
sunlit  and  eternal  truth  of  a  personal  God.  My  object 
this  morning  is  not  so  much  attempted  demonstration 
as  exhibition  or  i)roclamation  of  the  truth. 

The  truth  of  a  personal  God  is  the  great  and  funda- 

146 


FOUR    GREAT    RELIGIOUS    CERTITUDES.      147 

mental  need  of  philosophy  and  of  human  life,  the  one 
profoundest  want  of  man's  brain  and  of  his  heart.  The 
great  masters  of  skeptical  thought  of  fliis  time,  after 
the  profoundest  investigations  into  the  science  of  the 
Imown  and  the  probable,  come  back  with  the  awe-struck 
air  of  men  who  have  heard  footsteps  which  they  cannot 
trace,  and  the  rustle  of  roj^al  robes  whose  wearer  is  un- 
known to  them.  Thus  they  go  a  step  farther  than  Ath- 
ens, which  worshiped  the  ''unknown  God,"  wliile  they 
recognize  merely  the  "Uidmown."  I  am  reminded  of 
some  doubters  by  the  royal  psalmist:  "The  fool  hath 
said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God;"  as  though  only  a 
fool  could  say  it,  and  he  only  in  his  heart.  Lord  Bacon, 
great  in  logic,  and  not  mean  in  philosophy,  said:  "I 
would  rather  believe  all  the  fables  of  the  Talmud  and 
the  Koran,  than  that  this  universal  frame  is  with- 
out a  mind."  The  great  want  of  philosophy  is  God;  and, 
if  of  philosophy,  how  much  more  of  the  great,  aching 
brain  and  heart  of  the  world,  which  in  every  age  has 
cried  out,  "As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  waterbrooks, 
so  panteth  my  soul  after  Thee,  O  God."  The  one  en- 
deavor of  the  Bible  is  to  satisfy  this  need  by  making 
God  knoA^m  as  man.  I  turn  back  to  the  beginning,  and 
read:  ''In  the  beginning,  God."  Philosophy  has  found 
no  starting  place,  and  never  will,  but  there.  Ever^^- 
where  through  the  book,  tliis  is  God's  perfect  supply'  of 
the  profoundest  need  of  the  human  heart  and  the  human 
brain,  as  manifested  in  the  human  Ufe.  Moses  is  sent 
to  deliver  Israel.  God  tells  him,  "Go  and  say,  I  AM 
hath  sent  me  unto  you."  The  one  need  of  Israel  was  the 
revelation  of  the  eternally  existent  and  all-seeing  God. 
Elijah  leads  the  prophets  of  Baal  into  the  grove,  and  850 
of  them  cry  to  their  false  gods  from  morning  till  even- 
ing.   Then  he  puts  on  an  altar  a  bullock  and  nine  barrels 


148  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

of  water,  and  cries  to  God,  "Let  it  be  known  this  day 
that  Thou  art  God."  It  w^as  all  of  Israel's  want,  and  all 
of  God's  revelation.  Listen  to  David,  as  he  strings  his 
harp,  "O  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in 
all  generations."  So,  through  all  the  book,  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  the  one  need  of  man  is  God,  and  the  one  rev- 
elation of  the  Scriptures  is  God. 

Beyond  this  mountain  peak,  I  see  another,  at  first  sight 
a  little  lower,  but  on  looking  farther,  of  the  same  height; 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself.  No  fact  is  is- 
olated! it  is  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  circumstances, 
and  cannot  be  taken  out  without  dislocating  the  idea  of 
the  whole.  For  example,  an  acorn  implies  the  oak,  with 
its  trunk,  branches  and  leaves.  The  oak  implies  the 
earth  in  which  it  stands,  the  gravitation  that  holds  it  in 
its  place,  the  rain  and  wind  and  snow,  and  these  imply 
the  solar  system.  Two  or  three  years  ago,  the  tallest 
shaft  in  the  Avorld  was  dedicated  at  the  capitol  of  this 
country.  Why  was  it  erected,  and  what  does  it  mean? 
The  greatest  living  Englishman  intimates  what  it  means, 
when  he  says : ''  If  I  ever  were  shown  a  number  of  pedes- 
tals erected  for  the  statues  of  the  men  most  celebrated 
in  all  time  for  nobility  and  purity,  and  should  have 
jiointed  out  among  them  one  higher  than  all  the  rest,  and 
be  called  to  indicate  the  one  to  occupy  that,  I  would  have 
said  at  any  time  within  45  years,  and  I  now  say,  George 
Washington."  How  do  you  prove  that  George  Washing- 
ton ever  existed?  That  monument  proves  it;  that  city 
proves  it;  this  day  (Fourth  of  July)  proves  it;  the  exis- 
tence of  this  nation  proves  it. 

Archbishop  Whately,  in  his  comments  on  Bacon's  es- 
says, has  a  most  suggestive  line  of  thought,  which  he 
elaborates  more  fully  in  a  tract  called  "Historical 
Doubts  Concerning  Napoleon  Bonaparte."  It  were  easier 


FOUR    GREAT    RELIGIOUS    CERTITUDES.      140 

to  blot  out  Napoleon  than  Jesus  Christ,  and  ^Yater- 
loo  than  Calvary.  Did  George  Washington  live,  and  do 
the  22nd  of  February  and  the  Fourth  of  July  prove  it? 
How  about  that  other  anniversary,  as  dear  to  England  as 
Amei-ica,  and  destined  to  be  the  greatest  day  in  all  the 
earth,  observed  by  gifts  from  parents  to  children, 
to  commemorate  God's  gift  to  man?  Why  is  that 
observed  at  all?  Because  of  Christ?  Who  is  He? 
Suppose  that  He  were  just  now  to  come — as  come  He 
will,  we  know  not  when — and  take  his  stand  right  there, 
and,  making  Himself  evident  to  us,  should  say:  "Whom 
do  men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  Man,  am?"  If  I  might  be 
your  spokesman,  I  would  have  to  say,  "Blessed  Master, 
some  say  that  Thou  art  a  myth,"  unless  my  tongue  should 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  m^^  mouth,  so  that  I  could  not  utter 
a  word;  "Some  say  that  Thou  art  a  fancy  portrait,  and 
that  a  picture  has  turned  the  world  on  its  hinges."  And 
then,  should  He  go  on  to  say,  "Whom  say  ye  that  I  am?" 
oh,  now,  if  I  might  be  your  happy  spokesman,  on  my 
bended  knee  and  with  streaming  tears,  I  w^ould  cry, 
"Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  For 
He  has  outlived  Himself,  outlived  death  and  the 
grave. 

There  is  one  grave  whose  ashes  have  never  grown  cold; 
nay,  that  never  had  any  ashes  in  it.  There  is  one  grave 
that  is  the  Mecca  of  Christendom.  Why?  Let  me  tell 
you  by  an  historical  instance.  In  the  midst  of  the  pride 
and  power  of  Julian  the  Apostate,  w  ho  w^as  a  sagacious 
statesman  and  a  mighty  general,  one  of  his  w^arriors  said 
to  a  Christian :  "  What  is  the  Galilean  carpenter  doing 
now  ?  "  This  Christian  had  the  wit  to  answer,  "  The  Gal- 
ilean carpenter  is  building  a  coffin."  It  was  only  a  few 
months  before  that  coffin  was  done,  and  in  it  was  laid 
Julian  the  Apostate  and  with  him  the  last  attempt  to  set 


150  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

up  polytheism.  It  is  just  about  a  hundred  years  since 
Voltaire,  in  the  pride  of  his  power,  said :  "By  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  Christianity  will  be  a  thing  of 
the  past.''  The  Galilean  was  even  then  building  another 
coffin,  and  in  it  was  soon  lying  the  forai  of  Voltaire, 
and  beside  him  the  old  French  monarchy;  and  the  cen- 
tury ended,  and  Cliristianity  di',1  indeed  become  a  thing 
of  the  past  more  than  ever,  and  demonstrated  that  its 
career  was  in  the  future.  The  very  room  in  which  Vol- 
taire made  these  predictions  has  long  since  been  a  de- 
pository of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Men 
in  their  middle  age  remember  when  Napoleon  the  Little 
rose  in  the  pride  of  his  heart,  and  boasted  that  his  soldiers 
should  ride  through  the  streets  of  Berlin,  and  the  pope 
ai>proved  his  plan.  He  started,  and  in  six  weeks  the 
Galilean  carpenter  had  built  another  coffin,  and  in  it  was 
laid  the  contemptible  form  of  Napoleon  the  Little,  and 
beside  him  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope,  never  to  rise 
again.  This  Galilean  carpenter  has  quite  a  way  of  build- 
ing coffins  for  his  enemies,  and  weaving  wreaths  of  amar- 
anth for  his  friends.  Who  is  he?  " Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God,  Thyself  very  man  and  very 
God." 

Close  beside  this  mountain  of  eternal  certainty,  I  see 
another  from  which  the  prospect  is  very  glorious:  sal- 
vation. In  the  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  the  third  chap- 
ter and  the  eighth  and  following  verses,we  read:  "I  count 
all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Jesus  Christ,  my  Lord;  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss 
of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  dung,  that  I  may 
win  Christ."  And  then  he  describes  Christ:  "That  I  may 
know  Him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  being  made  comformable 
unto  his  death."    The  picture  looks  like  the  beginning 


FOUR    GREAT    RELIGIOUS    CERTITUDES.      151 

of  a  climax,  and  then  another  terrible  anti-climax.  Oh, 
to  know  Him,  hoAV  blessed,  and  the  power  of  his  resur- 
rection, which  does  not  mean  the  resurrection  from  the 
grave,  but  his  resurrection  power  in  us.  The  same 
power  which  raises  Him  from  the  grave  is  the  power 
which  raises  everj^  penitent  sinner  from  the  grave. 
Would  Paul  care  anything  about  salvation  by  rose- 
water?  "I  must  be  a  new  creature;  old  things 
must  pass  away,  and  all  things  must  become 
new."  When  30U  look  into  his  life,  and  see  what 
he  had  to  do,  you  see  why  for  him  no  salvation  was  of  any 
account  except  a  deep,  strong,  powerful  salvation.  He 
called  himself  the  chief  of  simiers,  he  was  the  greatest 
of  sufferers,  he  was  the  most  heroic  of  workers.  What 
use  would  there  have  been  in  Paul's  case  for  any  salva- 
tion that  had  not  a  place  in  it  for  perils  innumerable,  on 
the  sea,  and,  worst  of  all,  among  false  brethren?  Yet 
3^ou  cannot  imagine  him  as  a  defeated  and  unhappy  man. 
Summing  up  the  whole  case,  he  says,  "  In  all  these  things 
we  are  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  us.'' 
More  than  that,  he  absolutely  shows  you  that  the  hard- 
est things  were  the  softest,  that  the.  worst  things  were 
the  best.  I  am  glad  that  the  commentators  have  not  been 
able  to  find  out  what  that  thorn  in  the  flesh  was;  for 
everyone  with  a  trouble  may  now  take  courage  from  his 
words.  He  prayed  to  God  three  times — that  means  three 
hundred  times,  I  am  sure;  no  man  who  prays  at  all  would 
stop  at  three  times — no  such  prayer  is  ever  unanswered. 
God  transformed  it  into  a  blessing.  And  now,  the  best 
thing  about  the  Apostle  was  that  thorn.  "When  I  am 
weak,  then  am  I  strong."  But  that  was  a  single  incident. 
What  was  the  outcome  of  all?  Ask  him,  as  he  sits  there 
in  that  dungeon,  in  the  Mamertine  Prison,  a  deep  place, 
with  only  a  ray  of  light.    He  stood  and  lay  about  there 


152  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

for  three  years,  most  of  the  time  with  a  chain  on  his 
hand  and  a  soldier  watching  by  his  side.  I  notice  that  his 
face  glows  with  rapture,  and,  as  he  writes,  his  pen  al- 
most catches  fire  in  the  speed  of  its  flight.  Blessed  apos- 
tle, what  of  the  outcome?  "  That  is  just  what  I  am  writ- 
ing: 'I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  my  departure  is  at  hand  ;  henceforth  a  crown.'  " 
Is  that  all  you  see?  A  crown?  For  I  see  a  man  waiting 
with  a  sword  just  outside  the  city  gate,  to  take  off  your 
head.  Do  you  hear  anything  in  particular,  Paul?  For 
I  hear  the  crunching  of  bones  and  groans  in  that  den  of 
beasts.  "  Since  you  speak  of  it,  I  do  hear  the  welcome  of 
innumerable  harpers,  harping  to  welcome  me  home." 
TJiat  was  the  salvation  which  Paul  had,  and  in  the  joy 
and  light  of  which  he  steadily  lived,  and  which  in  God's 
name  I  commend  to  you. 

One  more  mountain  peak:  immortality.  I  take  it  that  is 
what  the  apostle  refers  to  when  he  says:  ^'If  by  any 
means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead." 
I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  yet 
in  this  passage,  I  think  he  refers,  not  to  that,  but 
to  that  consummation  of  grace,  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  when  soul  and  body  shall  his  glorious  image  wear. 
Let  me  fasten  your  eyes  on  this  mountain  peak  of  immor- 
tality by  these  two  thoughts  :  first,  the  instinct  of  im- 
mortality that  is  in  us;  secondly,  the  sense  of  eternal 
things  which  God  sometimes  grants  to  the  departing 
soul.  Life  and  immortality  are  brought  to  light,  and, 
now  that  the  gospel  has  come  and  its  radiance  fills  the 
earth,  there  is  no  man  anywhere  except  the  low^est  and 
basest  savage  who  has  not  the  instinct  of  immortality  in 
him. 

Here  is  a  man  brought  up  in  the  mountains,  who  sees 
a  ship  first  on  the  stacks  just  ready  to  be  launched.  Walk- 


FOUR  GREAT  RELIGIOUS  CERTITUDES.         15'5 

ing  around  it  and  looking  at  it,  he  sa}  s :  "  What  a  queer 
house,  with  its  roof  at  tlie  bottom  and  its  lioor  on  top, 
but  what  a  large  and  strong  house."  Then,  climbing  the 
ladder  beside  it,  and  coming  down  into  its  cabin,  and  see- 
ing places  for  beds  and  tables,  he  says:  "And  yet  it  is 
a  house.  But  what  are  these  coils  of  rope  on  the  deck, 
and  these  masses  of  canvas  and  these  tall  posts,  reaching 
up  150  feet?  What  a  queer  house.  It  was  never  built 
to  sta}^  here."  Even  as  he  says  it,  the  master  comes  out 
and  knocks  away  the  props,  and  the  great  house 
leaps  into  the  ^ea  and  prepares  for  the  voyage.  He 
says :  "  I  told  you  so :  this  house  was  never  built  to  stay 
here." 

Look  at  a  typical  man.  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,  of 
blessed  memory.  Seventy  years  ago,  he  was  a  little  red- 
headed baby  in  his  mother's  arms,  homely  to  all  the 
world,  but  lovely  in  her  eyes.  He  was  nursed  and  tended 
till  be  became  a  tall,  homely,  gaunt,  and  lank  young  man, 
with  a  squeaky  voice,  but  feeling  in  his  heart  that 
strange  tremor  of  divine  impulse  which  those  who  have 
felt  it  can  never  forget.  He  declared  that  he  never  could 
become  a  minister,  for  he  knew  that  his  friends  said  he 
had  no  voice  and  he  never  could  commit  anything  verbal- 
ly to  memory.  But  the  voice  sounded  louder  and  louder, 
till  he  felt  that  he  musft  speak  to  his  mother  about  it, 
though  he  knew  that  it  would  break  her  heart.  When  he 
told  her,  with  downcast  e^^es,  she  said  :  "  Oh,  Matthew,  I 
have  been  waiting  to  hear  you  say  this  every  hour  since 
you  were  born."  And  then  he  took  the  silver  trumpet 
of  the  gospel,  and  put  it  to  his  lips,  and  blew  it  on  three 
continents,  perhaps  to  more  living  men  than  any  Ameri- 
can. In  1873,  he  was  just  able  to  hold  up  thin  hands, 
and  pronounce  over  the  assembly  of  the  church  the  apos- 
tolic benediction,  and  in  seventeen  days  he  was  notj  for 


154  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Grod  took  him.  Where  is  he?  Is  he  anywhere?  Ye  winds, 
have  ye  heard  him  pass?  Ye  stars,  have  ye  seen  his 
ascending  flight  ?  Oh,  Matthew  Simpson  was  never  built 
to  stay  here.  He  was  built  to  move  out  into  the  eterni- 
ties, and  so  were  you  and  T.  This  instinct. is  in  us,  div- 
inely given. 

A  final  word  concerning  the  sense  of  eternal  things 
which  sometimes  comes  to  the  departing  spirit.  If  there 
is  in  this  audience  a  spiritualist  w^ho  expects  to  get  any 
word  of  aid  or  comfort  from  me,  let  me  disabuse  his  mind. 
I  believe  that  whole  thing  is  nine-tenths  deception  and 
one-tenth  devil.  I  do  not  put  it  in  my  creed,  much  less 
attempt  to  force  it  into  anybody  else's  creed;  but  I  think 
that  now  and  then  God  gives  to  the  departing  spirit,  be- 
fore it  leaves  the  flesh,  such  evident  revelation  as  fills  it 
with  a  certain  knowledge  of  that  into  which  it  is  just 
about  to  enter. 

Let  me  give  an  authentic  incident  in  the  recent  history 
of  the  Church  of  England.  One  of  its  prominent  bishops 
labored,  with  a  sister,  in  South  Africa  for  years,  a  faith- 
ful missionary.  Two  sisters  remained  at  home. 
The  last  one  of  the  sisters  lay  dying  in  England  of 
slow  consumption.  One  day,  she  turned  her  face 
suddenly  towards  the  wall  and  said:  "Oh,  there 
is  Charlie  and  there  is  Liz,"  referring  to  the  brother  and 
sister  gone  before.  Her  eyes  closed  and  she  was  not,  for 
God  took  her.  All  the  quasi-philosophies  cannot  prove 
that  it  was  not  a  real  revelation  from  her  Father.  Neither 
can  I  prove  that  it  was.  But  is  not  it  like  Him?  There 
are  not  many  saints  who  cannot  give  illustrations  of  the 
same  thing. 

God,  Christ,  salvation,  immortality.  Brothers,  do  you 
believe  them?  Has  God  made  them  known  to  you?  Ye 
ministers  of  the  Scriptures,  Christian  artists  and  godly 


FOUR  GREAT  RELIGIOUS  CERTITUDES.        155 

laymen,  in  whatever  walks  in  life;  tell  them  unto  men. 
Oh,  there  is  a  God,  there  is  a  Christ,  there  is  a  salvation, 
there  is  a  glorious  immortality.  Come  to  Jesus  to-day' 
and  you  shall  mount  this  glorious  peak  of  an  assured 
present  salvation,  and  presently  your  feet  shall  stand  on 
the  shining  peak  of  a  happy  immortaMtv. 


CHAPTER  Xni. 

CONFORMITY    TO    THE    IMAGE    OF    CHRIST. 

Sermon  by  Bishop  M.  E.  Baldwin— Tendency  to  Think  More  of  Justifi- 
cation Than  of  Christ— God  has  Only  One  Design  for  Man,  Christ's 
I  ma  2:0— God's  Way  Always  Selection— Consciousness  of  Sin  and 
Inability  to  Represent  God  the  Difficulties  Which  Encumbered  the 
Levitical  Priesthood— Claim  Your  Full  Privileges  as  Heirs  of  God— 
The  Vine  and  the  Branches— Christ  the  Head  of  Every  Man— Man 
His  Purchased  Possession— We  are  to  Show  our  Likeness  to  Christ 
in  This  World. 

An  artist  once  painted  a  picture  of  a  young  child, 
called  it  "  Innocence,"  and  people  w^ere  struck  with 
its  great  loveliness.  Years  rolled  away  and  finally  the 
artist  was  requested  to  paint  a  comi^anion  picture  of 
vice.  So  he  went  to  a  jail  and  selected  the  most  for- 
bidding, repulsive  looking  man  he  could  find,  painted 
him,  and  put  his  picture  up  by  the  side  of  "  Innocence." 
It  afterwards  transpired  that  this  man,  in  whose  face 
w  ere  portrayed  the  dark  passions  of  the  human  heart, 
was  the  same  being  whose  picture  was  painted  as 
"Innocence,"  when  a  child,  though  there  was  nothing 
to  show  that  it  was  the  same  person.  When  w^e  walk 
amidst  the  people  of  this  earth,  we  meet  many  persons 
of  so  malignant  character  that  w^e  ask.  Where,  in 
these  people — might  we  not  ask.  Where,  in  us — is  the 
blessed  image  of  Christ?  It  is  not  what  we  profess, 
the  symbol  that  we  acknowledge,  but  the  likeness,  the 
glorious  image  of  the  dear  Lord.  Some  one  said  with 
great  pow^.r,  that,  because  man  had  lost  the  image 
of  God,  God  sent  his  Son  to  show  what  it  w^as.  There 
was  God  himself :  it  was  in  that  image  God  had  made 
man,  but  we  had  lost  the  likeness.  Thus  Christ  said : 
*'Have  I  been  so  long  time   with    you,    and   yet   hast 

156 


THE  IMAGE  OF  CHRIST.  157 

thou  not  known  Me,  Philip?"  "He  that  hath  seen 
Me,  hath  seen  the  Father.  How  sayest  thou  then,  Shew 
us  the  Father?" 

Our  lesson  this  morning  is  concerning  the  reproduc- 
tion of  that  image  in  our  life.  We  are  created  unto 
holiness.  The  tendency  of  Christians  is  to  think  more 
of  justification,  and  peace  of  mind,  than  that  God  has 
called  us  to  the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  meet 
many  who  are  comparativel}^  satisfied :  you  say  to 
them,  "Is  your  spiritual  life  what  it  might  be?  Are 
you  like  St.  John,  or  Peter,  or  Paul?"  "No.  But 
then,"  they  say,  "we  were  not  called  to  that.  It  may 
be  given  to  some  men  to  grow  mightily  in  grace,  but 
it  is  not  to  us.  We  know  that  our  names  are  written 
in  the  book  of  life,  that  we  are  justified  from  all  things 
by  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  cannot  say 
much  more."    Let  us  note  the  following  facts. 

When  we  come  into  the  kingdom  of  grace,  the  first 
thing  we  ought  to  know  is  what  God  wishes  us  to  be. 
When  you  start  on  a  journey  it  is  a  self-evident  propo- 
sition that  you  ought  to  know  where  you  are  going. 
When  you  come  into  the  kingdom  of  grace,  you  are 
not  your  own,  you  are  bought  Avith  a  price,  and  the 
question  is  not,  what  you  think,  or  what  others  think, 
but  to  know  what  God  thinks  and  to  know  what  God 
wants  you  to  be  and  to  do.  Suppose  we  go  into  a 
sculptor's  studio,  and  see  a  great  variety  of  stones. 
We  say,  "  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  stone  ?  " 
"I  am  going  to  make  a  dancing  figure  out  of  this."  "I 
am  going  to  make  something  else  out  of  that,  and,  last 
of  all,"  he  says,  "Here  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  Parian 
marble.  Out  of  this  I  am  going  to  make  the  most  per- 
fect figure  that  I  ever  made.  It  is  the  most  costly  mate- 
rial, pure  Parian  marble,  and  I  shall  exhaust  all  my  pow- 


158  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

ers  to  reproduce  the  figure  of  some  national  hero.  When 
complete,  this  figure  is  to  stand  in  the  halls  of  the  senate 
for  the  admiration  of  nations :  it  is  to  be  my  master- 
piece.'^ When  I  come  into  the  Lord's  studio,  I  find 
He  has  only  one  design,  that  we  should  be  made  in 
the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  Komans  viii.  you  see 
that  this  is  God's  ultimate  desire:  "Whom  He  did 
foreknow,  them  He  also  did  predestinate,  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son."  If  you  should  go  to 
the  kingdom  of  glory  to-day,  and  open  the  great  book 
of  God,  you  would  find  your  own  name  there,  and 
after  that  name,  would  be  written  these  words :  "  To 
be  conformed  to  the  image  of  my  tlear  Son."  Not  the 
image  of  Paul,  however  grand,  not  that  of  any  sanc- 
tified men  that  we  may  meet  in  our  pilgrimage  here ; 
but  that  of  the  dear  Lord,  that  Holy  One.  You  may 
say  that  the  materials  of  your  heart  are  vicious — and 
they  are  not  single  in  that — ^but  be  assured  that,  if 
Thorwaldsen  could  not  make  a  masterpiece  of  art  out 
of  loose  sandstone,  God  can  make  a  being  that  will 
shine  like  a  star  before  his  throne,  out  of  the  poor, 
weary,  burdened  sinners  that  his  grace  calls  to  the 
hallowed  feet  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  materials  form 
no  obstruction  to  that  heavenl}^  architect.  "I  am  the 
potter,"  God  says,  "  ye  are  the  clay."  And,  dear  young 
men,  look  up,  be  of  good  cheer.  This  is  your  privi- 
lege, that  God  is  going  to  make  out  of  you  something 
like  Christ.  His  ultimate  object  is  that  you  shall  be 
conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son. 

Kemember,  God's  way  of  working  is  not  like  ours. 
When  we  come  to  the  Lord,  we  are  to  be  subject  to 
his  ways,  and  God's  way  has  always  been  selection. 
He  took  Abraham  and  brought  him  into  his  own  way. 
When  He  had  brought  Israel  out  of  Egypt  and  revealed 


THE  IMAGE  OF  CHRIST.  159 

himself,  having  first  cliosen  tlie  firstborn  of  Israel, 
He  afterwards  took  the  Levites  as  his  peculiar  treas- 
ure. Of  these  Levites  God  took  onlv  the  house  of  Aaron 
to  be  priests.  Those  two  houses  of  Eleazar  and  Itha- 
mar  had  the  priesthood  Avholly  in  themselves.  No  other 
families  had  the  right  of  access  to  the  temple,  and  the 
high  priests  only  had  the  right  of  entering  the  Holy 
of  holies  :  the  priesthood  were  confined  to  the  vail. 

Tavo  difiiculties  alwaj^s  encumbered  the  national  priest- 
hood. First,  while  they  were  to  act  as  mediators  be- 
tween God  and  men,  they  were  encumbered  with  sin. 
There  ^'ere  legal  ablutions,  and  we  know  there  were 
priestly  sacrifices,  the  burnt  offering,  the  peace  offer- 
ing, the  sin  offering  and  the  trespass  offering,  but 
these  were  for  the  purifying  of  the  flesh.  There  was 
a  constant  recognition  of  that  awful  thing,  sin.  These 
legal  aT)lutions  required  incessant  repetition,  from  the 
consciousness  of  being  burdened  with  sin. 

The  second  difficulty  was  this:  when  Aaron  stood 
in  the  immediate  i)resence  of  the  Shechinah  of  God's 
glory,  he  was  only  man,  and  sinful  man  at  that,  and  there- 
fore only  represented  man.  A  mediator  should  repre- 
sent both  parties,  God  and  man.  So,  wdien  Aaron  came 
back  to  his  o\nti  fellow-creatures,  he  needed  to  represent 
God,  but  only  represented  man.  They  saw  liim  as  he 
Ava>s,  onl}'  poor  humanity,  though  exalted. 

There  were  two  great  desiderata;  first,  a  being  with 
out  sin :  and  secondly,  a  being  that  when  he  stood 
before  God  would  represent  man,  and  when  he  stood 
before  man  would  represent  God.  That  was  what  they 
waited  for  and  what  the  Melchisedec  priesthood  w^as 
to  bring  in.  Christ  the  high  priest  did  represent  A\'hal 
man  needed  and  what  God  needed,  and  when,  there- 
fore,   Jesus    Christ  stood  before   God,  it  was  as   sin- 


160  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

less  man,  the  One  that  loved  both  man  and  God.  There 
He  stood,  the  one  faultless,  holy  One,  representing, 
not  our  fallen  humanity,  but  perfect  humanity.  When 
He  stood  among  men,  He  said :  '^  He  that  seeth  me 
seeth  the  Father."  St.  Peter  tells  us  (I  Peter  ii.,  5) 
that  we  are  a  spiritual  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual 
sacrifices,  and  this  is  the  priesthood  of  the  family  of 
heayen.  All  God's  people  are  priests,  but  in  the  like- 
ness of  Jesus  Christ. 

How  ?  First,  the  true  priests  are  God's  redeemed 
ones,  the  sinless  ones,  whose  sins  the  precious  blood 
of  Christ  has  taken  away.  And  secondly,  there  are 
those  that  are  made  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature, 
not  merely  those  whose  sins  are  forgiven,  but  those 
in  whom  God  dAvells.  There  is  the  humanity  and  the 
divinity.  This  divinity  constitutes  likeness  to  Jesus 
CJirist.  He  was  both  God  and  man,  and  God's  children 
are  made  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature. 

This  ghows  us  there  cannot  be  justification  by  faith 
and  an  unholy  life.  There  cannot  be  rejoicing  in  infin- 
ite atonement  which  the  Lord  Jesus  has  made,  and  the 
idleness  of  walk  which  we  so  often  find  among  j^ro- 
fessed  believers.  I  would  therefore  draw  your  atten- 
tion to  the  design  of  God  in  this  matter.  In  Eph.  i.,  4, 
we  read  this  glorious  truth,  that  God  has  chosen  us  in 
Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we 
should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  Him  in  love. 

Claim  your  full  privileges.  In  temporal  things  men 
are  beginning  to  do  this.  Suppose  the  son  and  heir 
of  some  wealthy  deceased  man  were  told  by  certain 
trustees  that  he  w^as  left  with  only  |300  or  |400  a  year, 
and  that  the  rest  was  left  in  their  hands  in  trust;  he 
would  go  along  on  that  |300  or  |400  only  so  long  as 
he  was  obliged  to.    Some  one  tells  him  that  the  whole 


THE  IMAGE  OF  CHEIST.  IGl 

fortune  is  left  to  him,  and  he  goes  to  some  lawyer  s 
office  and  asks  to  see  his  father's  will.  As  he  reads 
the  will,  the  whole  truth  comes  out  and  he  sa3'Sj  "  I 
have  been  living  on  |500  a  year  when  I  have  a  hundred 
thousand.  I  am  going  to  come  into  possession  of  what 
I  have,  and  live  proportionately  to  m^^  wealth."  Thous- 
ands of  us  are  yet  livinc:  on  |200  or  |300  that  might 
live  on  the  exceeding  riches  of  God's  glor}^  In  start- 
ing; upon  your  spiritual  life,  put  it  down  as  the  great 
axiom :  This  is  what  God  has  given  me,  and  this  is 
what  I  am  going  to  claim,  that  I  shall  be  like  Christ 
Jesus. 

How  are  we  to  be  like  Christ  ?  First,  we  are  made 
like  Christ,  as  branches  of  the  living  vine.  Our  Lord's 
great  lesson  in  John  xv.  is  about  the  vine  and  its 
branches.  Xotice  that  He  says:  "I  am  the  vine,  ye 
are  the  branches."  If  you  look  at  the  branches  of  a 
A'ine,  you  observe  that  the  bark  is  the  same,  the  leaves 
are  the  same,  and  the  fruit  is  the  same.  There  is  the 
closest  resemblance  between  the  branches  and  the  vine. 
Some  Christians  reduce  your  sidritual  temperature  to 
zero.  They  have  comparatively  little  or  no  spirituality, 
and,  worse,  they  are  worldly.  Christians  with  irritable 
tempers — ^when  you  go  into  a  man's  office,  and  he  says 
a  great  many  sharp  and  disagreeable  words,  and  as 
you  go  down  stairs,  some  one  says,  "That  is  a  prom- 
inent Christian  up  there ; "  it  may  be,  but  it  is  not  ap- 
parent. If  I  brought  you  a  slip  of  a  log,  and  said  I  had 
found  it  growing  on  a  vine,  you  would  have  said : 
"  I  think  there  is  a  mistake,  this  is  oak,  and  the  leaves 
are  ragged  like  those  of  an  oak.  We  are  not  accus- 
tomed to  see  that  kind  of  branch  on  a  vine."  I  can 
believe  that  that  oak  grew  on  a  vine  before  I  can  believe 
that  some  men  and  women  that  I  have  met  grow  on 


162  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Jesus  Christ.  You  are  to  be  like  the  vine  Jesus  Christ. 
Suppose  YOU  had  to  walk  with  a  stranger  from  here 
to  North  Adams,  and  it  turned  out  he  was  John  the 
Evangelist.  When  you  got  to  North  Adams,  you  would 
say,  "I  don't  know  who  that  person  was,  but  I  never 
met  anyone  like  him.  It  was  just  like  talking  to  Christ. 
He  was  so  full  of  Christ  that  it  was  all  Christ."  "  Well, 
why  ? "  "  Because  he  w^as  like  Christ."  When  they 
stooped  and  took  up  boulders  to  kill  Stephen,  he  looked 
up  and  said :  '^  Father,  forgive  them,"  Some  modern 
Christians  v/ould  have  stooped  and  taken  up  boulders 
to  throw  them  back.  I  have  heard  Christians  say, 
"  I  will  cs^rry  this  through  all  the  courts  of  the  law ; " 
I  would  just  like  to  know  where  the  image  of  Jesus 
Christ  is.  Christ  prayed  for  his  murderers,  and  the 
man  that  is  like  Christ  is  the  only  one  that  we  can 
recognize  that  image  in.  We  may  despise  him,  but 
those  only  are  like  Christ  who  will  give  their  backs 
to  the  smiters  and  their  cheeks  to  them  that  pluck  out 
the  hair.  If  there  is  one  characteristic  that  people 
despise,  it  is  that  character  called  "meek."  People  say, 
"that  is  want  of  spirit."  It  is  not  easy  to  be  like 
Christ,  there  are  not  many  like  Christ,  but  those  that 
are  Like  Him  exhibit  His  character,  because  the  vine 
imparts  fts  nutriment,  its  sap,  its  vigor  and  its  nour- 
ishment to  the  branches.  And,  if  you  and  I  are  grow- 
ing in  Christ  we  shall  be  like  Christ,  because  His  image 
and  His  body  will  be  ours. 

Next,  Christ  is  the  head.  In  I.  Cor.  xi.,  St.  Paul 
says  that  the  head  of  every  man  is  Christ.  That  is  not 
an  easy  truth  to  grasp.  It  means  the  sovereignty  of 
Christ,  and  we  like  to  have  our  own  way,  and  to  find 
when  we  rise  in  the  morning  that  we  are  our  own 
masters,    "The  head  of  every  man  is  Christ."    What 


THE  IMAGE  OF  CHRIST.  163 

is  the  meaning  of  that  word  ''head,'-  the  KecpaXrj  sx^oken 
of  here?  There  are  different  kinds  of  heads.  The 
ruler  of  a  nation  is  not  the  head  spoken  of  here.  The 
head  of  this  nation  is  its  president,  whom  many  of 
you  have  not  seen.  Is  Christ  the  head  in  another  sense? 
Yes,  Clirist  is  the  head  of  every  spiritual  man.  It 
means  what  your  head  is.  The  brain  is  the  source  of 
power  and  of  life.  If  you  say,  "  I  will  rise  and  go  out 
of  the  room,"  you  don't  consider  every  motion,  how  to 
rise  and  how  to  put  one  foot  forward.  And  when 
you  are  in  the  games  this  afternoon,  you  don't  think 
how  to  run,  you  merely  decide  that  you  will.  It  is 
the  sovereignty  of  the  brain.  The  head  of  every  man 
is  Christ.  I  had  died  with  Clirist.  When  Christ  died, 
1  was  crucified  with  Him,  and  I  have  given  up  myself, 
and  my  head  is  Christ.  You  often  hear  about  for- 
eign missions  and  home  missions,  but  what  I  want  you 
to  realize  is  this  sovereignty  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Go 
to  Him  and  say,  "  Lord,  Thou  art  my  head,  tell  me 
what  is  Thy  way.  I  Avill  go  where  Thou  tellest  me.  I 
am  not  mine,  I  am  thine."  The  more  you  get  out  of 
yourself  into  Christ,  the  more  power  you  will  have,  the 
more  you  will  be  like  Christ.  Here  comes  in  the  dif- 
ference: People  say,  "I  am  advised  to  go  here,"  and 
"I  am  advised  to  go  there,"  and  "I  would  just  like 
to  do  this."  Y^es,  we  would  like  to  do  this,  but  it  is  just 
to  bCj  as  was  said  yesterday,  the  ddvXo^Irjaov  XpiardL\ 
First,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  w^as  the  servant,  the 
6dv  Xo^  or  slave  of  God.  The  great  apostles  recog- 
nized their  bondage  to  the  will  of  God.  There  were 
three  characteristics  in  the  Latin  slaves.  First,  they 
were  bought  with  a  price.  A  slave  came  to  his  Eoman 
master  in  the  morning  and  did  not  think  the  day  was 
his   at   all,   but  understood  it  w^as  his   master's,   and 


1C)4  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

said  :  "  What  is  thy  will  ?  "  Again,  it  was  purchased 
possession,  it  was  unquestioning.  Thirdly,  it  was  a 
life-long  service.  Try  to  get  this  thought,  that,  being 
purchased  Avith  the  blood  of  Christ,  you  are  the  pur- 
chased possession,  the  peculiar  treasure  of  God:  sec- 
ondly, tliat  you  are  to  render  unquestioning  obedience ; 
and,  thirdly,  that  it  is  a  lifedong  service.  Christ 
was  among  us  as  one  that  served,  and  in  his  life  He 
was  the  servant  of  God.  "My  servant  shall  deal  pru- 
dently, he  shall  be  exalted  and  extolled  very  high." 
It  is  not  an  easy  thing,  but  it  is  a  duty  of  Christians, 
as  well  as  a  joy,  to  go  to  the  Master  early  in  the  morning. 
Your  servants  come  to  you  in  the  morning.  They  want 
to  liuow  your  orders  for  the  day.  Go  to  God  early  in 
the  morning  and  ask  Him  to  mark  out  the  day.  We 
are  not  enough  with  God.  We  ought  to  wait  ui)on  Him, 
and  await  his  will,  and  realize  that  the  head  of  every 
man  is  Christ. 

I  was  once  with  one  who  was  to  go  through  a  very 
severe  operation  in  a  hospital.  I  was  much  more  agi- 
tated than  the  person  who  was  to  suffer,  and  I  was 
struck  by  the  calmness  of  the  sufferer  in  the  awful 
hour  Avlien  life  and  death  seemed  to  be  just  in  the 
balance.  She  had  left  it  all  with  God,  and  felt 
that  the  head  of  every  man  was  Christ.  If  you  are 
driving  your  own  chariot,  if  you  are  driving  the  horses 
of  the  sun,  remember  that  you  must  be  responsible  for 
your  own  troubles;  but  the  man  and  woman  that  lie 
on  their  faces  before  God  and  acknowledge  that  the 
head  of  every  man  is  Christ  will  be  guided  and  blessed. 
Next,  I  wish  to  bring  before  you  the  great  truth  of 
possession.  Christ  has  redeemed  us,  and  when  you 
take  your  Bibles,  you  will  find  that  that  is  the  reason 
why  we  are  God's.    In  the  45th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  God 


THE  IMAGE  OF  CHRIST.  165 

tells  Israel,  "I  have  redeemed  thee:  thou  art  mine." 
When  we  come  to  look  at  redemption,  we  find  that 
that  is  the  ground  of  God's  work.  "  He  hath  saved 
me,  that  He  might  make  me  like  Jesus  Christ."  Owner- 
ship is  a  different  thing  from  2)ossession,  and  people 
forget  the  difference.  God  may  have  saved  a  man 
and  not  filled  him.  You  see  this  in  our  dailj"  life. 
Some  people  are  Christians,  because,  if  you  come  to 
look  into  their  private  life,  you  find  that  they  can  say 
that  they  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  3^ou  cannot 
deny  it.  But  their  life  is  not  holy.  You  may  have  pur- 
chased a  house,  and  you  may  sa^^  you  are  going  to  it 
on  the  first  of  September,  but  in  the  mean  time  it  may 
not  be  vacant.  God  has  purchased  us  from  death;  He 
has  bought  us  with  the  blood  of  his  dear  Son;  but 
what  we  wish  to  be,  is  sanctified,  filled  with  all  the 
fullness  of  God.  What  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you  is 
likeness  to  Christ,  by  being  filled  with  his  presence. 
In  the  Psalms,  we  read  that  God  makes  his  angels 
spirits  and  his  ministers  a  flaming  fire.  In  the  Hebrew 
there  is  a  i^ower  not  apparent  to  the  English  reader : 
God  says  that  He  makes  his  angels  spirits,  and  his 
ministers  a  fire  that  is  set.  It  is  not  only  a  fire,  but  a 
fire  that  has  been  ignited.  If  3^ou  are  to  go  out  into 
the  world,  you  are  to  be  men  of  fire ;  you  can  never 
ignite  anything  with  a  lump  of  ice.  There  are  a  great 
many  lumps  of  ice  that  we  meet  with,  that  have  clear 
heads  and  argumentative  dispositions.  You  want  some- 
thing more  than  mental  enthusiasm,  and  that  fire  is 
the  fjresence  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  dwell  in  us, 
for  thus  we  are  like  Christ. 

Christ's  character  was  prefigured  by  the  national  tab- 
ernacle. The  Holy  Ghost  gave  the  tabernacle  three 
names :   The  tent  of  meeting,  the  tent  of  witness,  and 


106  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

the  dwelling  place  of  God.  Christ  was  the  meeting 
place  for  God  and  man,  a  witness  for  the  Father,  and 
there  God  (hvelt. 

In  concluding,  let  me  say  three  things.  First,  that, 
as  we  are  like  Christ,  there  will  be  abont  us  the  savor 
of  his  name.  We  are  to  be  chosen  witnesses  of  his 
resurrection.  Men  can  believe  that  there  is  a  God  up 
in  heaven,  if  they  can  see  a  God  dwelling  in  your  hearts. 
The  greatest  evidence  of  the  spiritual  religion  is  a  holy 
life.  A  man  that  will  be  pure  in  the  midst  of  impurity, 
that  will  be  loving  in  the  midst  of  the  bitter  sarcasms 
of  a  cruel  world,  that  will  reproduce  the  lowly  character 
of  the  dear  Saviour  in  a  polluted,  sinful  world,  is 
the  most  clear  and  irrefragable  argument  that  God  is 
true,  and  that  his  word  is  true. 

The  second  truth  that  I  want  you  to  notice  is  that 
it  is  here  in  this  world  that  you  are  to  show  your 
likeness  to  Jesus.  You  may  not  all  be  called  to  go  to 
the  sunburnt  plains  of  India;  you  ma^^  not  all  be  called 
to  go  to  Japan  or  China;  but,  whether  3'our  work  is 
in  the  slums  of  New  York  or  in  the  great  metroj^olis 
of  the  world,  you  are  just  to  be  witnesses  for  Jesus 
Christ.  We  need  our  religion  more  to  meet  fierce  men 
and  devils  than  we  do  to  stand  with  the  seraphs  above. 
When  we  reach  there,  we  will  find  that  they  are  all 
holy;  but  here,  where  people  hate  my  Saviour,  where 
people  are  in  restless  antagonism  to  the  truth,  what 
they  want,  what  they  are  unprepared  to  see,  is  the 
image  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  read  no  Bible,  they  study 
no  Scriptures,  the^^  do  not  come  to  our  meetings  and 
our  churches,  but  if  they  can  see  down  into  the  lives 
of  these  men,  men  that  are  unlike  themselves,  unlike 
anything  that  they  have  ever  seen  before,  men  that 
are  not  moved  by  the  motives  which  they  have  been 


THE  IMAGE  OF  CHRIST.  1(>T 

accustomed  to  see  impening  people,  they  will  see  that 
it  is  not  an  angel,  but  that  there  is  a  power  there— and 
what  power  is  it?  It  is  Jesus  Christ  in  you,  the  light 
hope  of  glory  dwelling  in  you,  born  in  you,  the  light 
and  the  power  of  the  Christ,  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  PERSONAL  CHRIST. 

Sermon  by  Dr.  M.  D.  Hoge— Difference  Between  Christ  and  other  Teach- 
ers—Interest in  Christ's  Relation  to  the  World— Source  of  Christ's 
Personal  Attractiveness— His  Simplicity— His  Reverence  for  script- 
ure—His Claims— Reliance  on  Personal  Christ,  not  on  Creeds,  thq 
Way  of  Salvation— Being  in  Christ  the  Condition  of  Clear  Insight 
Into  Truth— Formalism  a  Reversal  ci  the  Divine  Order— Christian 
Work  Appreciated  Only  When  Seen  Through  the  Eyes  of  Christ- 
Worship  of  Humanity— Men  of  Advanced  Thought. 

One  of  the  great  offices  of  the  Holy  (jhost  is  to  re- 
veal (I'hrist  to  man,  and  the  discourse  to  wdiich  you  ha\  e 
listened  (see  chapter  XVIII)  is  a  fitting  introduction  to 
that  which  I  propose  to  deliver.  I  wish  to  speak  of  this 
personal  Christ  born  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  hope  of  glory.  It  is  only  as  Ave  see  men  through  the 
eyes  of  Christ  that  we  see  aright ;  being  in  Christ  is  the 
secret  of  all  true  spiritual  vision,  and  when  we  get  the 
mind  of  Christ  and  through  that  mind  look  out,  we  under- 
stand our  relations  to  God,  to  the  church,  to  the  world, 
and  to  the  eternal  future.  This  is  my  tlieme  this  morn- 
ing. 

There  are  great  masters  in  the  realms  of  thought,  and 
there  are  great  leaders  in  the  realms  of  enterprise 
There  is  but  one  Chi'ist.  Though  his  ministry  was  the 
shortest  on  record  of  all  the  ministries  that  have  shaped 
the  religion  of  the  Avorld,  no  teacher  ever  taught  truths 
so  far-reaching,  so  all-embracing,  or  enforced  by  such 
tremendous  sanctions.  And,  as  time  wears  on,  the 
truth  is  evident  of  the  statement  made  by  a  master  of 
the  world.  "The  difference  between  Christ  and  other 
teachers  is  the  distance  of  infinity.''    The  personal  in- 

168 


THE  PERSONAL  CHRIST.  109 

fluence  of  Christ  Avhile  on  earth  was  ver}'  limited.  His 
name  was  not  heard  in  Athens,  nor  in  the  Avorld's  great 
capital,  bO  far  as  we  know.  He  did  not  found  any 
school,  or  institute  any  new  philosopliy,  yet  among  the 
things  that  Christ,  then  unknown  in  the  obscurest  part 
of  the  world,  created,  was  that  complex  and  magnificent 
thing  we  call  Christendom.  Christendom  embraces  all 
the  progressive  nations  of  the  worhJ,  by  which  I  mean 
those  nations  that  are  making  advances  tJirough  just 
laws  and  elaborate  institutions  and  sound  learning  and 
the  science  of  right  living,  for  those  are  the  elements 
of  Christian  civilization. 

Thus,  although  his  ministry  was  brief,  it  was  long- 
enough  to  make  Him  the  world's  supreme  teacher. 
And  He  has  given  to  tiie  world  tiie  one  perfect  ideal 
that  satisfies  both  the  intellect  and  the  heart  of  man- 
kind. He  put  a  new  face  on  this  world,  bj  putting  a 
new  heart  into  it.  He  set  this  world  revolving  in  a  new 
orbit,  because  He  made  himself  the  centre  of  its  light 
and  movement. 

I  propose  to  speak  of  this  personal  (Jhrist.  One  of  the 
greatest  of  living  preachers  said:  "When  I  undertake 
to  discourse  of  Christ,  I  feel  as  if  I  was  putting  a  mist 
about  it,  but  He  is  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  He  can 
shine  through  my  cloudy  presentation  of  Him,  and 
enable  your  hearts  to  see  the  King  in  his  beauty." 
The  Lord  grant  that  this  may  be  so  to-day.  1  could 
not  undertake  to  speak  to  such  a  large  company 
of  educated  young  men  without  the  sincerest  desire  that 
what  I  say  may  have  the  elfect  of  increasing  their  ad- 
miratic-n  and  deepening  tlieir  love  for  that  name  that  is 
above  every  name;  the  name  which  will  one  day  elevate 
all  learning  and  i)urify  all  art  and  literature  and  ennoble 
all  religion;  that  name  which  will  one  day  shine  like  a 


170  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

star  over  the  universe.    It  is  of  that  name  and  that  glorv 
that  I  would  speak  to  you. 

A  most  interesting  account  has  been  written  of  a  con- 
versation that  took  place  between  some  congenial  liter- 
ary friends  in  England  on  the  subject  how  they  wouhl 
feel  if  certain  of  the  great  immortal  dead  were  to  return 
to  life  and  enter  the  room  where  they  were  sitting.  One 
of  them  said :  •'  How  would  you  feel  if  Dante  were  to 
come  in,  whose  feet  walked  the  fiery  pavement  of  the  In- 
ferno, the  man  whose  eyes  beheld  the  supernal  glories 
of  the  Paradise  of  God  ?  "  Another  said  :  "  How  would 
you  feel  if  Shakespeare  were  to  come  in  ?"  "  Oh,"  said 
Charles  Lamb,  breaking  in,  "  how  we  all  would  welcome 
that  master  of  thought."  Then  somebody  said:  "  Suj)- 
pose  Jesus  Christ  were  to  come  in."  The  Avhole  attitu<le 
and  appearance  of  Lamb  instantly  underwent  a  change. 
With  the  deepest  solemnity,  he  said :  "  Oh,  if  Christ 
were  to  come  in,  we  would  all  receive  Him  upon  our 
knees."  Yes,  there  have  been  other  masters ;  the  w^orld 
has  had  its  kings  and  its  philosophers,  its  warriors  and 
its  artists:  it  has  had  but  one  Christ.  We  receive  Him 
on  our  knees;  we  welcome  Him  in  our  hearts;  we  en- 
shrine Him  in  our  souls;  we  celebrate  Him  in  oiir 
songs. 

Much  complaint  is  made  because  the  Christian  world 
is  showing  less  regard  for  systematic  theology.  It  is 
said  the  world  is  getting  tired  of  creeds  and  confessions, 
and  wants  to  abridge  the  creed  and  soften  the  confes- 
sion. I  think  some  of  these  creeds  have  been  too  long 
drawn  out,  but  I  am  afraid  that  the  cry  against  creeds 
and  confessions  is  -akin  to  the  feeling  that  would  cut 
down  the  well  rounded  sermon  to  a  segment,  and  shorten 
the  comprehensive  prayer  to  a  collect.  If  this  is  true, 
there  never  was  a  time  when  the  thinking  Avorld  was  so 


THE  PERSONAL  CHEIST.  ITL 

much  drawn  to  the  personal  Christ;  there  never  was  a 
time  when  thoughtful  men  were  inquiring  so  much  as  to 
the  relation  of  Christ  to  His  own  time  and  to  all  time.  I 
need  not  sa\  to  cultivated  gentlemen  that  no  historian 
dare  leave  out  the  influence  of  a  personal  Christ  from 
the  causes  that  have  contributed  to  this  world's  pro- 
gress. 

AVe  have  an  illustration  of  the  interest  felt  in  the  per- 
sonal Christ  in  the  fact  that  so  many  new  lives  of  Christ 
are  written.  One  life  comes  damp  from  the  press,  and, 
before  the  leaves  are  dry,  another  is  issued,  in  the  de- 
sire to  show  some  new^  trait,  or  new  characteristic  of 
our  Lord.  But  there  is  one  differeaice  between  all  these 
so-called  lives  of  Christ  and  that  life  wiiich  you  find  re- 
corded b}^  the  evangelists.  When  we  read  wdiat  th(3 
evangelists  wrote,  we  have  all  the  while  a  sweet  feeling 
of  the  personal  Christ,  such  as  we  don't  have  in  the  ex-, 
hibition  of  Christ  by  any  uninspired  writer;  and  the 
reason  is  because  the  sacred  writers  never  commente<l. 
They  looked  on  Christ  as  spectators,  and  left  the  im- 
pression to  be  made  by  what  He  said,  what  He  did  and 
what  He  was.  Therefore  we  feel  as  if  w^e  were  in  his 
immediate  presence  and  He  was  talking.  He  comes 
nearer  to  us  in  the  writings  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and 
John  than  in  those  of  any  modern. 

Nothing  was  more  evident  in  Christ  while  He  was  on 
earth  than  this  intense  personality,  that  still  imf>resses 
us  through  the  pages  of  those  that  write  about  Him. 
How  often  we  read  that  great  multitudes  followed  Him. 
Men  came  from  great  distances,  leaving  their  occupa- 
tion, and  there  was  such  a  desire  to  see  and  hear  Christ 
that  people  did  not  care  what  sacrifices  of  time  and  self- 
interest  it  cost.  Great  multitudes  followed  Him^  so 
that  on  one  occasion  his  enemies  confessed  defeat,  and 


172  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

said  :  "  Perceive  ye  tliat  we  prevail  nothing  ?  Behold, 
how  the  woild  is  gone  after  Him/'  What  was  the 
sonrce  of  this  attraction?  We  liave  no  antlientic  pic- 
ture of  Christ:  no  artist  has  left  us  the  outline  of  his 
sacred  face,  but  I  believe  there  must  have  been  some- 
thing veij  winning  in  his  very  appearance,  and  I  know 
there  must  have  been  something  very  touching  and  sub- 
duing in  his  tone.  Little  children — they  are  good 
judges — at  a  glance  recognized  Christ  as  their  friend. 
All  women  trusted  in  Him  at  once,  and  there  is  not  a 
single  record  of  a  woman  who  uttered  an  unkind  word 
about  Christ  or  did  an  unkind  act  toward  Him. 

Another  great  source  of  his  attraction  to  the  multi- 
tude was  the  extreme  simplicity  with  which  He  spoke. 
\Aliat  a  model  this  is  for  us  pi*eachers,  and  for  the  3^oung 
men  preparing  to  be  pi-eachers;  the  inimitable  simplic- 
ity with  which  Christ  spoke,  drawing  his  illustrations, 
not  from  philosophy  and  science,  but  from  the  connnon 
experience  of  men,  and  from  nature,  that  book  that  all 
can  read,  and  whose  lessons  appeal  to  all  hearts.  If 
there  is  one  thing  I  would  like  3'oung  men  to  cultivate 
in  preparing  to  be  ministers,  it  is  to  learn  to  speak  in  the 
vernacular,  to  discard  all  theology  the  common  people 
cannot  understand,  and  to  utter  whatever  they  say  so 
simply  that  nobody  can  mistake  its  meaning.  (That's 
what  we  want — Mr.  Moody.)  The  preacher  or  theologi- 
cal professor,  however  learned  or  renowned,  who  can 
get  the  ear  and  carry  the  heart  of  an  audience  of  little 
children  is  the  noblest  speaker  that  speaks  the  trutli. 
(Hear,  hear:  skirmish  along  that  line  a  little  while  now — 
Mr.  Moody.) 

I  think  one  reason  why  Christ  imi>ressed  the  multi- 
tude was  that  He  never  trilled  with  his  hearers.  He 
never  jested  in  his  sermons.    He  showed  a  profound 


THE  PERSONAL  CHRIST,  173 

reverence  for  Scripture.  If  there  is  one  thing  the  pulpit 
is  in  danger  of,  it  is  the  light  and  irreverent  way  that 
some  popular  evangelists  have  fallen  into  treating  sa- 
cred things.  Christ  looked  upon  the  world  as  too 
full  of  care  and  sorrow  to  jest.  While  there  was 
never  any  gloom,  there  was  never  any  levity  in  his  dis- 
course. 

But  what  plac'ed  Christ  outside  of  all  the  rest  of  the 
world's  teachers  was  the  amazing  claim  He  mnde  on  the 
world's  regard.  Other  creeds  were  willing  to  take  tlieir 
places  among  the  great  lights  of  the  world,  and  some- 
times one  was  great  enough  to  be  like  a  star,  shining 
apart,  but  Christ  presented  himself  as  the  central  sun, 
around  which  all  stars  and  all  systems  re^  olved.  There 
was  no  other  attribute  of  kingly  supremacy  or  author- 
ity which  He  did  not  claim  for  himself.  There  was  no 
sorrow,  no  as])i  ation  of  the  world's  great  heart,  which 
He  did  not  offer  to  satisfy  out  of  himself.  In  a  land  as 
insignificant  in  territory  as  Palestine,  lived  the  three 
great  masters  of  human  thought.  What  would  have 
been  thought  if  Aristotle  had  said  :  ''  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world ;"  or  if  Socrates  had  said :  ''  I  appoint  unto 
you  a  kingdom  ; "  if  Plato  had  said,  "  I  am  the  resurrec- 
tion and  the  life?"  And  yet  these  words  came  as  natur- 
al from  the  lips  of  Jesus  as  light  faUs  from  a  star,  and 
we  are  no  more  shocked  or  surprised  when  Ave  hear  Him 
thus  speaking  of  himself  than  we  would  be  if  gravita- 
tion could  become  intelligent  and  should  announce  it- 
self to  be  the  great  principle  and  power  that  maintains 
{he  order  of  the  universe. 

NoA\  it  is  because  Christ  spoke  of  himself  that  we  are 
pre}  ared  to  comprehend  another  thing,  which  I  want  to 
cmphasiz'e  as  the  heart  of  ni}^  subject.  Our  Lord  never 
proposed   any   system  as  the  way  of  salvation.    The 


174  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

teacher  was  himself  the  lesson,  and  therefore,  instead 
of  formulating  any  articulate  system  of  belief,  Christ 
said  :  "  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  the  life."  Not  reliance 
on  a  creed,  although  every  article  in  it  might  he  true  and 
Scriptural,  but  reliance  on  a  personal  Christ.  There- 
fore, He  said :  "  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Therefore,  He 
said:  "  The  faith  that  is  in  me."  The  man  that  relies  on 
his  faith  for  salvation  is  making  a  mistake.  There  is  a 
great  difference  between  relying  on  our  faith  and  relying 
on  Christ,  the  object  of  our  faith.  Faith  is  nothing  but 
the  eternal  fountain.  Faith  is  not  a  Saviour,  Christ  is  a 
Saviour,  and  nothing  can  be  substituted  for  our  personal 
Christ. 

In  the  next  i^lace,  being  in  Christ  is  the  condition  of 
seeing  all  truth  aright.  It  is  the  condition  of  our  sym- 
metrical development.  There  are  a  great  many  one- 
sided Christians.  Some  men  have  a  great  deal  of  cour- 
age and  firmness,  but  no  gentleness.  Some  people  are 
very  meditative,  but  lack  action.  Some  people  have  a 
prodigious  amount  of  zeal,  but  no  discretion,  and  are 
always  getting  into  trouble  because  of  their  impulses. 
But  being  in  Christ  ijrevents  that  one-sidedness  that  we 
should  call  eccentricity,  which  means  ''  out  of  the  centre 
of  development,"  some  talent  developed  at  the  expense 
of  some  other  talent,  a  develoi)ment  in  one  direction 
and  a  corresponding  deterioration  in  another  direction. 
Some  young  men  think  eccentricity  is  a  certain  mark  of 
genius.  On  the  contrarj^,  it  shows  a  want  of  mental 
care,  a  want  of  equilibrium.  It  is  a  thing  to  be  prayed 
against. 

Being  in  Christ  is  the  great  remedy  against  all  formal- 
ism in  religion.  The  best  remedy  I  know  of  against  the 
prominent  sacerdotalism  of  the  day  is  in  looking  into  the 


THE  PEESONAL  CHRIST.  175 

eyes  of  Jesiis.  I  know  there  is  sometimes  a  tendency  to 
invest  modern  Christianity  with  all  the  pomp  and  cere- 
mony of  the  old  Jewish  ritual.  I  have  this  objection  to 
it.  The  gospel  system  is  one  that  proceeds  from  the 
shadow  to  the  substance,  from  the  type  to  the  thing 
typified;  but  going  back  to  mediaeval  or  Je\\'ish  ideas  for 
our  modes  of  worship,  is  an  absolute  reversal  of  the  di- 
vine order.  It  is  taking  the  reality  and  carrying  it  back 
into  the  type.  It  Is  trying  to  force  the  resplendent  noon 
back  into  the  early  morning  twilight  litis  an  anachronism 
and  a  reversal;  it  is  like  taking  the  majestic  oak  and  try- 
ing to  force  it  back  into  the  little  acorn.  This  is 
is  rebuked  at  once  when  we  hear,  "God  is  a  spirit,  and 
they  tliat  worship  Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.'-  A  salvation  by  sacerdotalism  is  shattered 
Avhen  Ave  hear  these  solemn  words:  ''  In  whom  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood  and  forgiveness  of  sins, 
according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace." 

In  the  last  place,  it  is  only  when  we  study  our  fellow- 
men  through  the  eyes  of  Christ  that  we  learn  the  value 
of  their  souls,  and  how  best  to  work  for  their  salvation. 
1  do  not  knoAV  that  the  apostle  I*aul  felt  it  any  more  than 
his  associates,  but  I  know  that  he  expressed  it  better 
than  any  of  them,  when  he  told  us  the  secret  of  his  suc- 
cess: ''I  am  a  debtor."  He  Avas  once  a  slave  in  boiid- 
age  to  sin  and  death,  and  he  could  not  break  those  bonds. 
All  he  could  do  was  to  cry,  "  Oh,  Avretched  man  that  1 
am."  Christ  came,  broke  his  bonds,  and  brought  him  out 
into  the  sun  of  glorious  liberty.  He  owed  a  debt  that  he 
never  could  pay.  ''I  am  a  debtor  to  the  Greek  and  to  the 
Jew."  We  cannot  see  at  first  how  he  was  a  debtor  to 
either.  The  reason  was  that  he  knew  Chi-ist  had  died 
for  both  of  them,  and  for  him,  and  that  He  had  not  died 
for  him  anv  more  than  for  the  Greek  and  barbarian. 


ITG  COLLEGE   OF   COLLEGES. 

What  he  meant  by  being  a  debtor  he  showed  when  he 
went  about  for  three  3  ears  warning  every  man. 

You  hear  a  great  deal  in  all  magazine  literature  and  in 
a  certain  class  of  i)uli)its  about  the  enthusiasm  of  hu- 
manity. I  am  patient  witJi  most  people,  but  sometimes 
I  find  it  a  little  hard  to  repress  the  indignation  I  feel 
when  I  see  men  borrowing  from  the  Bible  the  very  light 
of  revelation,  and  then  pretending  that  they  have  dis- 
covered these  things.  They  reject  the  Bible,  but  get  all 
the  good  that  is  in  them  out  of  the  Bible  and  then  preach 
what  they  call  the  religion  of  humanity.  If  the  Bible 
had  not  come  and  plucked  the  ancestors  of  these  ungrate- 
ful sinners  out  of  the  bloody  barbarism  in  Avhich  they 
wei'^  born,  they  would  be  just  as  bad  as  our  heathen  an- 
cestors were,  and  ^et  they  take  the  lamp  of  revelations 
from  off  the  pulpit,  and  take  A^  hat  light  they  please  out 
of  it  and  put  it  in  their  lantern,  and  go  about,  saying, 
"  Here  are  the  true  and  new  lights  of  the  world.  We  re- 
ject revelation,  but  are  coming  to  redeem  humanity  by 
our  system  of  philanthropy  and  brotherly  love."  And 
they  claim  that  they  have  won  the  field  even  now.  They 
remind  us  of  a  scene  after  one  of  the  greatest  battles  of 
the  world;  when  the  gallant  Percy  stood  leaning  on  his 
sword  and  wiping  the  sweat  from  his  manl}-  brow,  and  a 
])erfumed  coxcomb  came  up  and  claimed  part  of  the 
honors  of  the  hard  won  field.  Just  as  that  warrior  must 
have  felt  an  unutterable  disdain,  when  he  looked  at  that 
contemptible  man  coming  to  claim  the  honor  of  victorj'^, 
so  I  feel  when  I  look  at  these  humanitarians,  stealing  all 
Ihtit  is  good  in  their  system  out  of  the  Bible  and  then 
claiming  to  regenerate  the  world  by  the  system  which 
they  have  invented.  Did  3H)u  ever  hear  of  a  humanita- 
rian who  went  about  w^eeping  day  and  night,  becaus-e  he 
could  not  persuade  men  to  believe  a  God  who  is  defined 


THE  PERSONAL  CHRIST.  177 

as  "the  power  not  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteous- 
ness? "  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  humanitarian  who  could 
say,  '^  Because  of  my  sweetness  and  light,  therefore  was 
I  beaten  with  lods,  therefoi'e  I  have  suffered  ship- 
wreck?" No,  gentlemen;  the  men  that  have  redeemed 
hum.an  history,  and  stood  like  lighthouses  on  the  dark 
and  stormy  promontories  of  life,  casting  out  healing  rays 
and  saving  beams  through  the  dark  waters,  have  been 
men  that  got  their  enthusiasm  for  humanity  out  of  the 
cross,  men  whose  motto  w^as,  "the  love  of  Christ  con- 
stiaineth  me." 

Vse  hear  much  said  about  men  of  advanced  thought. 
"  Men  of  advanced  thought "  means  that  there  were  no 
thinkers,  of  course,  in  the  past,  like  them.  Some  men  in 
the  past  we  thought  were  thinkers.  We  supposed  that 
such  men  as  Bacon,  and  Butler,  and  Newton,  and  John 
Locke,  and  John  Selden,  and  Jonathan  Edwards,  were 
men  of  advanced  thought.  Men  have  risen  up  since, 
such  as  Mr.  Theodore  Parker,  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  Mr. 
Huxley,  Mr.  John  Stuart  Mill.  But  have  they  eclipsed 
those  thinkers?  A  man  of  advanced  thought  is  a  man 
who  professes  to  have  reached  a  higher  eminence,  to  be 
able  to  survey  a  wider  field  than  those  before  him,  and 
to  have  made  more  valuable  discoveries.  What  have 
these  m  n  of  advanced  thought  done?  What  contribu- 
tions have  they  made  to  the  world's  true  knowledge? 
Where,  as  Lord  Bacon  asks,  are  the  fruits  of  this  ad- 
vanced thought?  Much  so-called  advanced  thought  is 
an  advance  beyond  the  humility  that  Canon  Liddon  so 
beautifully  demonstrates  to  be  the  condition  of  all  true 
progress.  "Advanced  thought"  means  treating  lightly 
and  contemptuously  those  awful  truths  which  men  have 
been  accustomed  to  hold  in  deepest  reverence'.  I  hope, 
I  believe,  that  the  world  is  advancing  in  a  great  deal 


178  COLLEGE   OF   COLLEGES. 

that  is  good,  but  the  worhl  will  never  advance  beyond 
the  last  sentence  written  in  God's  Holy  Book.  The 
Bible  will  march  in  advance  of  the  advancing  race,  and 
I  believe  the  race  is  advancing,  just  as  the  ark  and  pil- 
lar of  cloud  and  liie  marched  in  advance  of  Israel,  when 
they  were  looking  for  the  land  of  their  inheritance.  1 
do  not  know  what  conceptions  the  intellect  may  form 
in  the  future,  but  I  know  that  in  all  the  future  there  will 
never  be  a  nobler  thought  of  God  than  this:  "God  is  a 
spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  unchangeable  in  his  being,  wis- 
dom, power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness  and  truth." 
The  religion  of  the  future  that  some  people  are  so  fond 
of  talking  about,  will  never  have  a  nobler  definition  of 
God  than  that.  I  do  not  knovv  what  success  may  at- 
tend patient  search  for  what  is  called  the  ideal  in  hu- 
manity, but  I  know  that  there  will  never  be  a  more 
beautiful  ideal  than  the  Son  of  Man.  I  do  not  know 
what  forms  of  loveliness  heaven  ma}^  contain,  but  I 
lvn(«w  the  heaven  of  heavens  contains  nothing  more 
beautiful  than  my  glorified  Jesus.  I  know  not  what 
pictures,  human  imagination,  touched  by  sorrow,  may 
form,  but  I  know  that  there  never  will  be  a  spectacle  so 
calculated  to  move  the  human  heart  as  the  spectacle  of 
the  dear,  dying  Lamb,  and  his  cross,  standing  alone  in  its 
mournful,  unapproachable  glory.  I  know  not  what  an- 
ticipations of  a  future  life  bereaved  affection,  inspired 
by  revelation^  may  feel,  but  I  know  that,  when  bereave- 
ments take  away  what  is  dearest,  in  the  deep  anguish 
that  follows  when  the  heart  cries  out,  "What  and 
where  are  now  my  departed  ones  ?"  no  answer  ever 
falls  on  the  listening  ear  of  the  heart  more  sweet  than 
this:  "They  are  before  the  throne  of  God,  they  serve 
Him  day  and  night  in  his  temple,  and  He  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne  dwelleth  among  them,  and  the  Lamb 


THE  PEKSONAL  CHRIST.  ITU 

which  is  in  the  uiidst  of  the  throne  shall  feed  them  and 
shall  lead  them  to  living  fountains  of  water,  and  God 
shall  wipe  awav  all  tears  from  their  eyes."  That  is 
John's  heavenly  beatific  version  of  recognition  and 
reunion  and  communion  in  the  glor}'  everlasting;  the 
dawn  of  humanity  rebuked,  the  long  separated  reunited, 
and  dawn  at  the  end  as  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  hu- 
man history. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   BIBLE   A   REVELATION   FROM   GOD. 

Address  by  Rev.  I.  D.  Driver— Legal  Evidences— Revelation  to  a  Na- 
tion, not  an  Individual— A  Nation  cannot  Testify  to  Falsehood— 
The  Old  Testament  the  Statute  of  the  Jews— Their  Constitution 
and  Ours— God's  Law  Superior  to  Man's— National  Feasts- Pass- 
over and  the  Fourth— Ordinances— Wrong  Use  of  Interpretation- 
Testimony  of  New  Testament— Disciples  could  not  be  Mistaken- 
Christ  must  be  Divine. 

In  all  the  disputes  and  controversies  of  the  human 
race,  there  is  no  subject  upon  which  the  mind  of  man 
has  expended  so  much  anxiety,  labor  and  research,  as 
this.  Yet,  astonishing  as  it  may  seem,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  controversy  to  the  present  time,  the  differ- 
ence between  authenticating  and  interpreting  has  been 
ignored.  This  mode  of  controversy  can  settle  nothing. 
Facts,  alonC;  can  authenticate  anything.  Leave  the 
settlement  to  interpretation,  and  you  have  as  many 
interpretations  as  you  have  interpreters.  If  a  document 
is  authenticated,  it  must  be  done  by  establishing  facts, 
and  not  by  an  interpretation  of  its  teachings,  as  no  in- 
terpreter can  show  his  interpretation  correct.  But  if 
it  is  authentic,  its  authenticity  can  be,  and  if  done  at 
all  must  be,  established  by  questions  of  fact,  and  when 
this  is  done,  no  interpretation  can  set  it  aside.  All  the 
philosophies  of  man  must  fall  when  they  come  in  con- 
tact with  a  single  fact.  The  fall  of  an  apple  and  the 
discovery  of  gravitation,  destroyed  the  philosophy  that 
man  had  been  building  for  six  thousand  years. 

If  the  Bible  is  ever  authenticated,  it  must  be  done  in 
the  same  way  that  any  other  document  is  authenticated. 
In  this  respect  it  is  subject  to  the  same  rules  of  criti- 

180 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        181 

cism;  for,  although  (lod  ckiims  to  be  its  author,  j-et  the 
evidence  he  gi\'es  to  man  of  its  authenticity  must  be 
of  the  same  nature  required  to  establish  the  authorship 
of  any  human  pi  eduction,  to  bring  it  within  the  knowl- 
edge and  capacity  of  man.  If  a  divine  revelation  has 
ever  been  made  to  man,  the  difference  between  giving 
and  perpetuating  that  revelation  must  be  as  great  as 
that  of  giving  and  perpetuating  human  testimony.  The 
testimony  given  carries  its  weight  at  the  time,  but  to 
perpetuate  and  carry  its  force  to  future  generations, 
it  must  be  put  in  an  im]:erishable  form.  Nothing  but 
the  acts  of  Moses  and  Christ  could  establish  their  di- 
vine mission,  and  show  to  the  generations  in  which 
they  lived  that  they  were  divinely  commissioned.  But 
the  acts  they  performed  must  stop  with  them;  for,  if 
continued,  to  our  day,  tliey  would  have  destroyed  the  very 
evidence  of  divine  interposition — for  it  is  evident  the 
divine  nature  of  these  acts  would  be  destroyed  by  being 
interwoven  with  the  common  and  daih"  occurrences  of 
nature,  and  it  wonld  be  no  more  evidence  of  divine  action 
to  see  the  dead  raised  or  seas  divided  than  it  is  to  see 
the  sun  rise  and  set. 

On  careful  rejection,  it  will  appear  evident  that  in  no 
other  ^\'ay  could  a  revelation  be  given  than  by  supernat- 
ural acts  attesting  a  divine  mission,  and  then  by  monu- 
mental testimony  as  "seals"  putting  these  evidences  in 
an  imperishable  form  to  transmit  to  future  generations. 
The  acts  Moses  and  Christ  performed  were  the  highest 
evidences  that  God  could  give  that  He  had  sent  them. 
The  national  monuments  as  "  seals  "  to  perpetuate  them, 
are  as  good  evidence  to  ns  as  the  acts  were  to  those  who 
saw  them.  Testimony,  accompanied  by  proper  "  seals  " 
and  attestations,  can  lose  none  of  its  value  by  time. 

Nearl}^  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  Celsus  wrote  a 


182  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

treatise  against  Chiistianitv,  and  b}'  a  review,  inter- 
preting the  precepts  of  the  Bible,  tried  to  overthrow 
its  divine  authenticit}^ ;  and  from  that  day  to  the  pres- 
ent every  writer  against  Christianity  has  followed  him 
and  not  one  of  them  has  ever  alluded  to  the  evidence 
that  authenticates  an  instrument.  All  undertake  to  dis- 
jiove  its  divine  origin  hy  interpreting  it  and  every  man  is 
his  own  interpreter,and  no  two  of  them  interpret  it  alike. 

It  is  the  work  of  a  lawyer  to  prove  the  authenticity  of 
the  Bible,  and  the  work  of  a  theologian  to  interpret  it. 
But  nothing  can  be  farther  from  nature  and  common 
sense  than  for  sliiy  man  to  ofl'er  as  an  argument  his 
own  interi^retation  of  the  precepts  of  any  book  or  sys- 
tem of  laws  against  its  alleged  authorship. 

Suppose  that  I  should  attempt  to  do  with  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  what  the  opposers  of  Christian- 
ity for  eighteen  hundred  years  have  been  trying  to  do 
wath  the  Bible.  They  offer  their  own  interpretations  as 
proof  that  God  is  not  the  author  of  the  Bible.  I  offer 
my  interpretation  to  prove  that  the  fathers  never  made 
the  "Constitution."  They  offer  as  evidence  that  God 
never  made  the  Bible,  the  different  interpretations  theo- 
logians have  put  upon  it.  I  offer  the  different  inter- 
pretations statesmen  and  jurists  have  put  upon  the 
"  Constitution  "  to  prove  the  fathers  never  made  it. 

Our  Constitution  was  made  in  our  own  language  by 
the  wisest  and  best  of  men  and  in  the  most  progressive 
age;  and  yet,  over  the  interpretation  of  that  simple  in- 
strument, made  almost  within  the  memory  of  man,  a  mil- 
lion of  men  have  been  put  into  pi*emature  graves,  bil- 
lions of  dollars  of  national  debts  contracted,  and  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  Avidows,  orphans  and  cripples  left 
among  us— all  over  a  simple  question  of  interpretation, 
and  yet  no  one  denies  that  the  fathers  made  the  Consti- 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        183 

tutioii,  and  no  one  thinks  that  these  deeds  of  horror  and 
human  suffering  are  attributable  to  that  grandest  of  all 
human  instmments. 

It  is  not  the  fault  of  our  "  Constitution  "  that  our  citi- 
zens construe  it  so  differently,  nor  the  fault  of  the  Bible 
that  Christians  do  the  same;  but  it  is  the  fanlt  of  any 
man  that  will  stand  forever  against  his  intelligence  or 
honesty  to  say  that  because  Americans  interpret  the 
"Constitution"  and  Christians  interi:>ret  the  Bible  so 
differently,  therefore  God  never  made  the  one  nor  the 
fathers  the  other.  But  witli  the  admitted  difficulty,  or, 
perhaps,  impossibility  that  human  wisdom  should  in- 
terpret the  Bible,  or  nature,  or  even  the  "  Constitution,'' 
so  as  to  be  free  from  objections,  is  that  to  be  considered 
an  objection  against  either  the  authorship  or  wisdom 
of  either  one  ?  The  very  reverse  is  true ;  for  a  revela- 
tion to  meet  future  wants  must  contain  the  element  of 
progress.  But  all  progress  is  based  on  ignorance,  for 
ignorance  is  as  necessary  to  progxess  as  wisdonio  Where 
there  is  no  ignorance,  there  can  be  no  progress.  But 
while  wisdom  insures  progress,  loyalty,  alone,  can  make 
a  citizen.  Nothing  but  loyalty  can  lay  the  foundation 
for  citizenship  and  secure  protection  in  any  government, 
human  or  divine.  And  on  no  other  foundation,  and  on 
no  other  principle  can  government  be  instituted,  not 
even  in  thought.  "Love  (or  loyalty)  is  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law;"  and  a  world  of  intelligence  ignoring  these 
principles  by  sanctioning  disloyalty,  and  making  wis- 
dom the  test  of  citizenship,  would  be  an  institution  to 
educate  devils,  and  only  another  name  for  hell. 

Hence,  in  our  own  government,  where  there  are  so 
manj  thousands  of  educated  lawyers,  and  perhaps  not 
two-score  considered  capable  of  interi^reting  our  Consti- 
tution, the  good  man,  scarcely  able  to  write  his  name, 


184  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

can  live  out  his  three  score  and  ten  years  without  the 
slightest  danger  of  violating  and  incurring  the  penalty 
of  the  law  that  takes  so  much  wisdom  to  interpret.  An<i 
in  nature,  with  all  her  profound  mysteries,  the  untold 
millions  of  human  bodies,  the  most  complicated  and 
mysterious  of  all  machinery,  could  be  kept  in  running 
Older  (if  we  can  believe  science)  till  1G16  before  a  man 
on  earth  knew  that  he  had  blood  that  circulated  in  his 
veins.  In  nature  and  revelation,  the  perx^etuity  and 
protection  of  life  depends  solely  on  facts.  The  stmly 
and  comprehension  of  these  facts  is  the  only  road  to  men- 
tal progress. 

It  must  be  clear  to  every  reflecting  mind  that  a  rev- 
elation to  meet  the  wants  of  man  must,  like  nature,  put 
the  principles  that  perpetuate  and  sustain  life  within 
the  reach  of  all;  while  the  principles  that  insure  pro- 
gression must,  wdiile  man  lives  on  the  earth,  be  the 
source  of  agitation  and  controversy. 

When  these  self-evident  principles  are  applied  to  the 
past  controversies  over  the  authenticity  of  the  Bible,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  con  trovers}^  has  not  been  over 
the  moral  precepts.  Over  these  there  has  been  no  dis- 
pute. The  objection  has  always  been  about  something 
about  which  different  minds  would  naturally  differ  as 
they  had  different  strength  of  perception.  This  is 
clearly  indicated  by  the  objections  raised.  No  two  agree; 
or,  if  the  discussion  turns  on  a  precept  given  for  the 
civil  government  of  a  people,  the  fact  is  ignored  or 
entirely  overlooked  that  although  Grod  is  the  author  of 
a  civil  code  it  must  be  adapted  (to  give  it  in  wisdom)  to 
the  wants  of  a  people.  Put  it  so  high  as  to  be  above  the 
people's  surroundings  and  conditions,  and  it  could  never 
be  either  a  system  of  instruction  nor  the  means  of  pro- 
gress.   Or,  if  the  dispute  is  about  David's  sin  or  Solo- 


THE   BIBLE   A   REVELATION   FROM   GOD.      185 

mon's  polygamy,  the  fact  is  oveiiooked  that  the  acts 
are  related  in  the  history  and  condemned  b}'  the  laws 
of  the  Bible;  and  woise  than  all,  the  objector  always 
measures  the  moral  turpitude  by  the  moral  law  of  the 
Bible.  If  the  destruction  of  the  Canaanites  is  urged, 
the  most  imj^ortant  part  of  the  history  is  suppressed, 
and  the  material  facts  concealed.  That  God  waited  four 
hundred  and  thirty  years,  during  which  time  he  sent 
them  the  best  men  in  the  world  to  reform  them,  telling 
Abraham  he  would  not  there  give  him  a  foot  of  land, 
alleging  as  a  reason — ^'the  cup  of  the  iniquity-  of  the  Am- 
orites  is  not  yet  full,"  and  when  they  had  crossed  the 
line  over  which  a  nation  or  an  individual  can  not  return, 
but  forfeits  its  existence,  then  justice  and  the  good  of 
humanity  removes  them.  These  observations  might  be 
extended  till  every  objection  urged  against  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  Bible  for  the  last  eighteen  hundred  years 
would  be  answered;  and  then,  by  a  collection  and  clas- 
sification of  the  objections  and  pairing  off,  and  showing 
what  one  man  siys  is  right  and  another  says  is  wrong, 
thus  making  one  objection  kill  another,  Ave  could  readily 
show  the  supreme  folly  of  trying  to  overturn  the  al- 
leged authenticity  of  any  document  by  an  interpreta- 
tion of  it  3  maxims  or  teachings. 

The  authentication  of  a  will,  deed  of  conveyance,  or 
any  other  instrument,  depends  on  collateral  or  outside 
testimony.  an;l  can  never  be  established  by  the  teachings, 
precepts,  or  the  provisions  of  the  instrument  itself. 
And  this  is  pre-eminently  true  of  the  Bible,  and  to  deny 
it  would  destroy  the  necessity  of  a  revelation;  for  if 
man  is  capable  of  determining  what  should  and  what 
should  not  be  revealed,  he  is  not  in  circumstances  to 
need  a  revelation — ^he  is  a  law  unto  himself,  which  has 
already  been  disproved. 


186  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

^o  instrument  is  of  an}'  use  without  collateral  testi- 
mony to  prove  it  authentic ;  and  the  Bible  is  not  worth 
interpreting  until  it  is  sh(nvn  to  be  the  word  of  God. 
We  noAV  come  to  the  direct  evidence. 

The  evidence  that  proves  the  validity'  of  an  instru- 
ment must  be  separate  from  or  outside  of  the  instrument 
itself.  To  prove  the  validity  of  a  document  bj^  its  con- 
tents is  like  trying  to  identify  a  man  b}^  his  own  testi- 
mony. For  instance :  The  Declaration  of  Independence, 
unsupported  by  evidence  outside  the  instrument  itself, 
is  no  evidence  that  on  the  4Lh  day  of  July,  1776,  the 
fathers  of  tliis  republic  adopted  that  instrument.  The 
statement  is  historical,  but  its  truth  can  not  be  proved 
by  the  instrument;  neither  can  it  now  be  proved  that 
on  that  day  the  Declaration  was  drafted.  This  being 
an  immaterial  fact,  no  means  were  taken  to  perpetuate 
that  fact.  But  it  can  be  proved  that  on  the  aforesaid 
day  and  year  that  instrument  was  adopted  b}^  the  fa- 
thers of  this  republic;  and  the  proof  is  furnished  in  a 
national  existence  then  claimed,  afterward  established, 
and  still  perpetuated;  and  by  the  monumental  testimony 
of  a  national  feast  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  oc- 
currence. And  if  this  nation  should  stand  ten  thou- 
sand years  its  very  existence  would  prove  the  gTeat 
fact  by  the  best  evidence  known  to  man — the  origin 
and  perpetuity  of  national  existence.  And  as  long 
as  the  citizens  come  together  and  on  that  day  read  that 
instrument  and  eat  that  feast,  it  is  as  good  evi<lence 
that  on  the  4th  day  of  Jul}^,  1776,  the  event  it  perpet- 
uates took  place,  as  it  would  be  to  raise  from  the  dead 
these  revolutionary  fathers  and  have  them  testify  to 
the  date  and  contents  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence] for  it  is  their  living  testimony  put  in  an  imper- 
ishable form. 


THE   BIBLE   A   REVELATION   FROM   GOD.      187 

Now,  apply  these  principles  to  the  writings  of  ^Moses 
and  the  bearing  they  have  on  the  qnestion  of  his  being 
a  messenger  sent  from  God,  and  the  perpetuity  of  his 
divine  mission. 

His  writings  are  the  constitution  and  statutes  of  a  na- 
tion; that  nation  is  still  in  existence,  preserved  (as  then 
stated  they  should  be)  in  violation  of  ever}^  known  law 
of  nature.  Scattered  among  all  nations,  and  for  the 
first  one  thousand  three  hun<lre(l  jeavs  of  the  Christian 
era,  not  alloAved  in  any  countiy  the  rights  of  citizenship 
or  the  possession  of  proi^erty  (as  then  predicted,  as  we 
shall  see,)  until  the  predicted  treatment  broke  up  their 
former  pastoral  habits.  Yet,  these  foretold  fiery  perse- 
cutions The}'  survived;  like  the  busli  in  which  God  ap- 
jieared  to  Moses,  always  burning,  but  never  consumed. 
And  now,  after  two  thousand  years  of  dispeislon,  make 
a  circuit  of  the  globe,  and  in  England,  Germany,  Iceland, 
Russia,  Spain,  France,  Italy,  Turkey,  China,  America, 
in  the  cities  and  nations  of  the  earth,  visit  the  six  mil- 
lions three  hundred  thousand,  on  the  day  established  by 
Moses  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  ago,  and  you 
will  see  them  eat  that  passover  in  commemoration  of 
the  flight  of  their  fathers  from  Egypt.  This  national 
monument  is  as  good  evidence  of  the  incidents  they 
perpetuate  as  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  4th 
of  July  celebration  are  of  our  rebellion  against  a  for- 
eign yoke  and  the  establishment  of  a  government  of  our 
owm.  These  monuments  in  both  cases  preclude  the  pos- 
sibility of  fraud  or  deception,  by  entering  into  the  facts 
received  and  perpetuated;  for  no  nation  can  ever  be 
induced  to  erect  a  monument  to  perpetuate  an  event  that 
never  occurred.  The  very  admission  that  such  a  thing 
is  possible  would  destroy  all  testimony,  overturn  all 
courts  of  justice  and  render  every  fact  incapable  both 
of  proof  and  perpetuity. 


1^8  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

The  weight  of  testimony  is  still  increased  when  we 
consider  that  this  monumental  testimony  was  set  up  at 
the  time  the  event  occurred  for  the  very  purpose  of  per- 
petuating the  evidence  of  the  fact.  "  This  day  shall  be 
unto  you  for  a  memorial,  and  ye  shall  keep  it  a  feast  to 
the  Lord  throughout  your  generations :  ye  shall  keep  it 
a  feast  by  an  ordinance  forever." — Exodus  xii.,  14.  The 
acts  testified  to  and  perpetuated  by  this  national  testi- 
mony could  leave  no  doubt  on  a  rational  mind  that  God 
commissioned  Moses ;  and  to  deny  that  he  ever  performed 
them  w^ould  be  to  overthrow  all  human  testimony  and 
render  any  thing  incapable  of  proof.  It  is  not  philoso- 
phical to  say  that  the  actions  attributed  to  Moses  are 
unw^orthy  of  credit,  when  it  can  be  clearly  seen  that  the 
actions  were  necessary  to  show  the  interposition  of  God, 
and  without  them  a  revelation  could  not  be  made.  In 
no  other  way  could  the  divine  mission  of  Moses  be  at- 
tested, nor  the  existence  and  ]Dower  of  God  be  estab- 
lished. The  nature  and  character  of  what  is  involved 
in  a  miracle  will  be  considered  in  our  lecture  on  mir- 
acles. 

The  question  now  is :  Could  human  testimony  establish 
the  fact  that  Moses  performed  the  acts  recorded?  The 
unquestioned  fact  is,  they  did  so  testify,  and  have  put 
their  testimony  in  an  imperishable  form;  and  we  must 
either  say  that  the  acts  of  Moses  demonstrated  the  exis- 
tence and  power  of  God,  or  forever  invalidate  the  testi- 
mony of  man.  For,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  a  whole 
nation  gave  testimony  to  an  event  that  never  occurred; 
founded  national  existence  on  and  set  up  monuments  to 
perpetuate  it,  no  credit  can  be  given  to  human  testi- 
mony. But,  it  has  been  argued,  that  these  miracles 
w  ere  performed  before  an  ignorant  people,  and  in  an  un- 
scientific age.    To  this  it  may  be  said  that  the  class  of 


THE   BIBLE   A   REVELATION    FrvOM   GOD.      180 

miracles  were  of  such  a  nature  that  a  scientific  educa- 
tion Avould  disqualif}"  rather  than  aid  in  passing  upon 
them.  The  ^'bias"  of  preconceived  theories  would  be 
present,  Avliile  scientific  knowledge  could  not  be  of  the 
least  assistance.  Would  Prof.  Tyndall  have  any  advan- 
tage over  an  ignorant  man  in  determining  that  it  was 
light  in  one  dwelling  and  dark  in  another;  or  that  in 
every  Egyptian  house  the  first-born  was  slain,  while 
not  one  of  the  HebreAvs  perished?  That  a  pillar  of 
cloud  gave  light  to  one  party  and  darkness  to  another? 
That  one  party  passed  the  Red  Sea  on  dry  land,  while 
of  the  pursuers  none  escaped?  In  none  of  these  things 
could  scientific  knowledge  be  of  the  least  help  in  de- 
leimming,  while  the  "bias"  of  preconceived  theories 
would  be  a  material  objection.  And  we  now  can  see 
that  more  than  human  Avisdom  w^as  employed  in  select- 
ing from  nature  that  class  of  miracles  AA'here  science 
could  have  no  advantage  in  determining  the  facts. 

AVhen  we  cai'efully  consider  the  nature  of  the  evidence 
— that  it  is  the  statutes  and  constitution  of  a  nation  whose 
national  existence  is  preserved  in  opposition  to  the  laAvs 
that  govern  every  other  nation.  Though  they  have  been 
scattered  for  two  thousand  years  into  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world,  yet  when  we  bring  together  from  the  East, 
West,  North,  or  South,  Jews  Avho  have  not  seen  each 
other's  ancestry  for  two  thousand  years,  they  are  nearer 
alike  in  their  religious  sentiments  and  general  charac- 
teristics than  our  own  childi-en,  raised  in  the  same  fam- 
ily and  educated  in  the  same  school  house.  One  of  ours 
will  be  a  Presb3i;erian,  another  a  Baptist;  one  a  demo- 
crat, another  a  republican;  but  a  Jew  is  a  Jew  all  OA^er 
the  earth.  In  opposition  to  every  known  law  of  nature, 
he  has  liAed  and  fulfilled  the  predictions  of  his  own 
prophets  for  three  thousand  five  hundred  years — "  I  Avill 


190  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

sift  the  house  of  Israel  among  all  nations  like  as  corn 
is  sifted  in  a  sieve  yet  shall  not  the  least  grain  fall 
upon  the  earth.'' — Amos  ix.,  9;  "And  the  wealth  of  the 
heathen  round  about  shall  be  gathered  together,  gold, 
silver  and  apparel  in  great  abundance;"  their  future 
history  in  all  these  improbable,  and  even  miraculous  re- 
spects is  predicted  with  as  much  ease  and  accuracy  as 
our  well-informed  historians  write  of  tlie  past.  So  that 
Paine  and  others  have  said  of  some  of  these  prophecies, 
that  they  were  "  Christian  forgeries  of  the  third  and 
fourth  century,"  not  knowing  that  they  were  translated 
from  the  Hebrew  into  Classic  Greek  three  hundred  years 
before  Christ  was  born.  The  laws  of  Moses  can  be 
traced  through  ancient  Greek  writers,  and  are  adiaitted 
by  them  to  be  the  oldest  in  the  world. 

No  man  can  read  the  28th  chapter  of  Deuteronomy, 
written  more  than  three  thousand  years  ago,  where  the 
Jewish  apostacy  is  predicted,  their  dispersion  among 
all  nations  foretold,  greatly  dissimilar  language  of  their 
captors  noted,  the  ensign  (eagle)  of  the  Eomans  spoken 
of,  the  terrible  siege  of  Jerusalem  delineated,  starving 
women  mentioned  as  eating  their  own  children;  and 
then  turn  to  Josephus,  their  own  historian,  corroborate<l 
by  Koman  history — I  say  no  candid  man  can  read  these 
prophecies  written  by  Moses  and  carefully  compare 
them  with  the  acknowledged  facts  of  history,  but  must 
feel  that  they  could  only  be  indited  by  him  "  who  know- 
eth  the  end  from  the  beginning."  And,  further,  Avlien 
we  reflect  that  the  Jew  is  still  so  incomprehensively 
preserved  and  scattered  among  all  nations  (as  predicted), 
so  tliat  wherever  the  gospel  is  preached  among  the  Gen- 
tiles there  is  the  Jew,  God's  "  seal"  to  attest  the  divin- 
ity of  the  system,  who  can  disbelieve?  It  is  so  unlike 
every  other  claim  to  divine  origin,  being  accompanied 


THE   BIBLE   A   EEVELATION   FROM   GOD.      19  L 

by  every  evidence  that  can  attest  truth.  When  Moham- 
med took  his  journey  from  Mecca  to  heaAen,  why  did 
he  not  set  up  a  national  feast  to  prove  and  perpetuate 
it?  Only  for  the  reason  that  he  could  not  get  a  nation's 
testimony,  and  could  have  nothing  but  his  own  state- 
ment to  perpetuate.  When  Joseph  Smith  discovered 
the  Mormon  Bible,  why  did  he  not  set  up  a  national 
feast  to  conimeniorate  the  event?  Only  for  the  reason 
that  he  could  not  procure  the  testimony  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  and,  having  no  affidavit,  he  could  only  leave 
IS  his  own  word.  But  Moses  could  and  did  procure  the 
testimony  of  a  nation,  with  statutes,  constitution  and 
all  the  evidence  of  a  national  existence  and  national  tes- 
timony, put  in  imperishable  form. 

When  Mr.  Layard  disentombed  the  great  Assyrian 
monument  at  Nineveh;  when  the  Arabs  removed  the 
rubbish  from  solid  marble  slabs,  set  up  since  Abraham 
lived  and  Mcses  wrote,  some  Avere  so  decayed  by  time 
that  they  could  not  be  removed.  Hence  the  testimony 
which  perpetuates  this  revelation  was  not  put  on  tables 
of  stone,  but  the  ever-enduring  "  tables  of  men's  hearts," 
as  nothing  else  is  enduring.  For  mountains,  by  the  wast- 
ing hand  of  time,  crumble  doAvu  to  dust  and  oceans  re- 
cede from  their  ancient  limits.  But  the  monument  that 
attests  the  divine  origin  of  the  Bible  stands  incorrupti- 
ble, defying  the  ravages  of  time  and  has  said  for  three 
thousand  live  hundi'ed  years  and  aa^II  forever  say,  "  I  am 
God's  Avitness."  When  the  divine  origin  of  the  Bible 
is  established,  then  the  work  of  interpreting  begins.  But, 
before  we  consider  the  NeAv  Testament,  let  us  look  at 
some  of  the  evidences  that  corroborate  the  revelation 
to  Moses. 

It  is  acknowledged  by  all  authority  that  the  law  of 
Moses  is  the  basis  of  all  our  civil  laws,  and  is  yet  far 


192  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

in  advance  of  our  highest  civilization.  Blackstone  says, 
"some  of  our  institutions  are  still  pagan; "  and  a  history 
of  our  laws  would  only  be  a  history  of  the  struggle^  of 
Christianity  Avith  paganism.  The  history  of  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  amendment  of  our  constitution  is 
the  history  of  all  our  laws,  not  a  maxim  of  the  civil 
law,  but  is  founded  on  the  Bible,  and  the  very  chapter 
and  verse  can  be  pointed  out.  Moses  found  slavery  and 
polygamy  in  existence  and  had  no  power  to  eradicate 
them,  but  by  the  moral  gi^owth  of  public  sentiment,  and 
no  legislator  has  any  other  power.  If  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  issued  the  emancipation  xDroclamation  one  j^ear 
before  he  did,  he  would  have  sunk  this  nation.  And 
if  God  is  the  author  of  a  civil  code,  to  found  it  in  wisdom 
he  must  adapt  it  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  condi- 
tions of  a  people.  Go  beyond  this  and  the  laws  will  not 
be  executed;  use  compulsion  and  force,  and  you  destroy 
their  freedom  and  leave  the  people  in  a  worse  condition. 
The  nation  Moses  organized,  like  all  others,  had  to  have 
two  codes,  and  of  necessit}^  one  was  opposed  to  the  other, 
as  one  is  for  the  protection  of  the  other.  Our  civil 
laws  say,  "whosoever  shall  take  life  of  any  reasonable 
being  in  form  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  murder  and  suf- 
fer death;"  but  military  law  prepares  instruments  of 
destruction  and  hires  men  to  use  them  to  destroy  human 
life  by  the  million,  the  very  thing  forbidden  by  civil 
law.  I  admit  the  civil  law  of  Moses  did  tolerate  slavery 
and  divorce,  for  it  had  no  power  to  eradicate  slavery  or 
polygamy.  Look  at  their  condition  in  his  day — when 
a  single  man  had  five  hundred  wives  and  as  man^^  ser- 
vants, and  their  children.  Set  them  all  free  and  turn 
them  out  Avithout  protection  or  support,  and  famine, 
with  pestilence,  consequent  upon  famine,  would  produce 
a  thousand  evils  where  one  before  existed.    In  China,  or 


THE   BIBLE   A   REVELATION  FROM   GOD,     193 

even  Salt  Lake,  to-day  goTeinmental  provision  would 
have  to  be  made.  In  that  age  it  coald.  not  be  done. 
The  mural  law  of  Moses,  acting  with  his  civil  code,  oper- 
ated like  our  church  and  State,  and  no  man  (whose  in- 
tellect was  enlightened)  could,  as  an  adherent  to  his 
moral  law,  own  a  slave  until  he  wished  to  be  made  a 
slave  himself — and  that  no  man  ever  did. 

^ow,  where  did  Moses  get  these  "  ten  precepts?"  And 
where  did  he  get  his  alphabet  in  which  they  were  writ- 
ten? Neither  was  any  part  of  "Egyptian  wisdom,"  where 
he  received  his  education.  Egypt  had  no  letters  in 
Moses'  day.  Look  at  the  nature  of  these  precepts.  Take 
all  the  scientists  and  legislators  that  now  live;  set  them 
down  to  w^rite  a  code  of  laws  for  the  government  of  man- 
kind, and  with  all  past  progress  and  experience,  the}' 
can  not  make  laws  completely  adapted  to  human  wants 
for  fifty  years  to  come.  At  untold  expense  they  must 
be  "repealed,"  modified  and  changed  almost  yearly  to 
meet  human  i)rogress  and  wants.  And  yet  these  ten 
precepts,  that  a  child  can  recite  in  a  Sunday  school  in 
five  minutes,  have  governed  everj^  conceivable  case  that 
has  come  within  the  range  of  human  imagination  for 
three  thousand  three  hundred  years,  yet  not  a  w^ord  has 
been  added  or  taken  from  them.  Not  only  this,  but  they 
contain  every  s  lund  of  the  Hebrew  language  and  every 
letter  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  but  two  consonants  since 
added.  All  moral  duty,  and  the  language  in  which  they 
were  written  are,  beyond  controversy,  the  life  of  the 
civilized  world.  Eeverse,  to-day,  these  ten  precepts, 
enact  their  oppositt  s  and  enforce  that  law,  and  in  ten 
days  nothing  would  be  left  of  the  nation  but  corpses 
and  blood. 

Where  did  he  get  the  government  he  established? 
Egypt,  whe  e  he  was  educated,  w  as  opposed  to  it  in  every 


194  COLLEGE   OF    COLLEGES. 

essential  form,  and  onr  own  Constitution,  the  first  ever 
made  by  Bible-reading  men,  was  taken  from  it.  Noah. 
Webster,  in  the  preface  to  his  dictionary,  says — "The 
United  States  commenced  their  existence  under  circum- 
stances w^holly  novel  and  unexampled  in  the  histor}'  of 
nations.  They  commenced  with  civilization,  w-ith  learn- 
ing, science,  and  w  ith  the  best  gift  of  God  to  msm^  the 
Christian  religion." 

The  Jewish  government  had  thirteen  tribes  or  states. 
(Joseph  had  tw^o  parts.)  From  these,  seventy  persons 
w^ere  chosen  which  constituted  the  Supreme  Tribunal, 
and  the  right  of  appeal  was  recognized  from  the  lowest 
judge  up  to  this.  No  king  was  allow^ed,  and  for  four 
hundred  and  fifty  years  they  were  ruled  by  judges; 
and  when  they  rebelled  and  made  a  king,  they  were  told  it 
w  ould  be  their  national  destruction.  Their  constitution 
and  our  own  were  the  only  two  ever  submitted  to  a  peo- 
ple for  ratification;  their  constitution  and  our  owai 
were  the  only  two  that  made  provision  for  the  natural- 
ization of  foreigners;  and  their  constitution  and  our  own 
were  the  only  two  that  ever  i^rohibited  a  foreigner  from 
holding  the  chief  executive  office.  For  their  ruler  it 
was  commanded — "  Thou  mayest  not  set  a  stranger  over 
thee  which  is  not  thy  brother." — Dent,  xvii.,  15. 

In  all  these  essential  features,  w^e  as  readily  see  every 
principle  of  the  Jewish  government  transferred  to  our 
own  as  we  see  the  artist's  skill  in  transferring  every  line- 
ament of  our  mother's  features  to  the  polished  glass. 
Where  did  Moses  get  these  civil  and  moral  codes,  the 
basis  of  all  moral  and  social  i^rogress  to  our  day  and 
far  beyond  us?  To  say  that  he  w^as  a  wise  man,  and  to 
stop  there,  only  increases  the  difficulty,  for  it  makes 
him  wiser  than  all  men  from  his  day  to  the  pres- 
ent, md  that  would  make  liim  a  God,    So  that  in  try^ 


THE  BIBLE  A   REVELATION  FROM  GOD.       195 

ing  to  evade  one  difficulty  we  fall  into  another  still 
greater. 

When  the  Old  Testament  is  authenticated,  it  is  a  short 
and  easy  task  to  proye  the  inspiration  of  the  ^New  Tes- 
tament. Or,  if  the  diyine  mission  of  Christ  be  estab- 
lished, that  of  his  Apostles,  chosen  by  him,  foUov,  s  as 
a  necessary  consequence,  with  all  whose  diyine  mission 
they  acknowledge.  For,  when  their  ins])iration  is  estab- 
lished, their  sanction  establishes  the  authority  of  all  the 
prophets  they  quote  and  settles  the  canon  by  the  writ- 
ings they  acknowledge;  and  this  self -evident  rule  ac- 
knowledges the  books  as  we  have  them  and  rejects  the 
Apocryphal  books — neither  Christ  nor  his  Apostles  ever 
quoting  a  sentence  from  them.  Besides,  the  sacred 
books  were  written  in  Hebrew,  and  the  others  in  Greek, 
and  never  acknowledged  until  canonized  by  the  Eomish 
church,  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  simple  question 
then  is,  can  a  history  of  Christ — his  life,  miracles,  death 
and  resurrection — as  related  by  the  Apostles  in  the  Xew 
Testament — ^be  established?  This  settles  the  whole 
question,  and  is  the  basis  upon  which  Christianity  has 
stood  from  Christ  until  to-day,  and  upon  which  it  must 
forever  stand  or  fall. 

The  positive  evidence  is  short  and  easy  to  be  under- 
stood; the  corroborating  testimou}^  has  been  accumula- 
ting for  one  thousand  eight  hundred  years. 

The  Xew  Testament  contains  the  testimony  of  twelve 
men.  Eleven  of  these  were  Christ's  intimate  compan- 
ions, for  three  years  his  bosom  friends.  They  record 
his  miracles:  of  giving  sight  to  those  who  were  born 
blind;  of  raising  from  the  dead  the  widow's  son,  an<l 
Lazarus,  who  had  been  dead  four  days.  They  tell  of  his 
own  predicted  death  and  resurrection.  They  see.  Him 
expire  upon  the  cross.    They  see  the  soldier's  spear 


190  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

pierce  his  side;  the  flow  of  blood  and  water,  showing 
the  rupture  of  the  pericardium,  the  sure  evidence  of 
his  death.  Thej  tell  of  his  burial  in  the  tomb,  of  the 
stone,  the  seal,  the  guard  of  one  hundi'ed  soldiers,  of 
the  supernatural  darkness  at  the  time  of  full  moon,  when 
no  eclipses  could  take  place,  of  his  resurrection,  the  fear 
and  fainting  of  the  guards,  his  appearance  to  the  disci- 
jiles  during  the  period  of  forty  days,  of  the  miraculous 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  tlie  day  of  I'entecost  con- 
ferring miraculous  gifts.  All  of  these,  if  not  true,  could 
have  easily  been  disproved;  and  had  they  not  been  true 
the  gospel  could  not  have  made  a  convert  in  Jerusalem. 
And  when  Ave  consider  that  three  thousand  in  one  day 
left  Judaism  and  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  ''  Jesus 
Christ,"  on  the  testimony  of  their  own  senses,  of  the 
"  star  "  at  his  birth,  his  miracles,  resurrection,  and  gift 
of  tongues  to  the  Galileans  (a  people  Ernest  Renan  calls 
the  most  ignorant  of  all  civilization),  enabling  them  to 
speak  sixteen  languages — these  i^ublic  facts,  incapable 
of  misconstruction  or  deception,  fulfilled  the  prophecies, 
overthrew  Jewish  prejudices  and  established  Christian- 
ity upon  the  "rock"  on  which  it  stands  to-day,  and  wilL 
stand  to  the  end  of  time.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  every 
Apostle  (one,  perhaps,  excepted)  died  in  attestation 
of  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  resurrection — and,  be 
it  remembered,  they  were  not  martyrs  to  opinions,  but 
martyrs  to  facts.  No  martyr  since  their  day  has  ever 
been,  or  ever  can  be,  placed  in  their  circumstances.  Tes- 
timony to  an  opinion  is  all  the  evidence  a  martyr  has 
given  from  Polycarp  to  the  present  time,  and  that  is 
only  an  evidence  of  his  sincerity  and  honesty;  but  it  is 
the  highest  evidence  that  man  is  capable  of  giving — ^his 
dying  testimony.  But  not  one  of  these  Apostles  died 
for  his  opinion  (for  in  opinion  a  man  may  be  mistaken), 


THE   BIBLE   A   REVELATION  FROM   GOD.      197 

but  for  testimony  to  facts,  concerning  Avhicli  it  was 
impossible  for  them  to  be  mistaken.  As  to  their  being 
with  Christ  for  three  years  they  could  not  be  mistaken, 
nor  as  to  their  seeing  his  death  and  burial.  Neither  was 
it  possible  tor  them  to  be  mistaken  as  to  their  conversing 
with  and  handling  him  for  forty  days  after  his  resurrec- 
tion. His  allusions  to  his  former  teaching  and  future 
gifts  make  deception  impossible.  The  only  alternative 
is  to  say  the  facts  of  his  life,  miracles,  death  and  resur- 
rection, were  absolutely  true,  or  that  every  man  died 
for  what  he  knew  to  be  absolutely  false,  and  that  too, 
when  the  simple  telling  what  he  knew  to  be  true  would 
have  saved  his  life,  a  thing  we  may  confidently  affirm 
no  man  ever  did  or  ever  can  do.  The  issue  is  right  here, 
precisely  where  Paul  put  it:  they  w^ere  not  and  could  not 
be  mistaken.  "If  Christ  be  not  risen  we  are  found  false 
witnesses  of  God,  because  we  have  testified  of  God  that 
he  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  whom  he  raised  not 
up  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not.'' — I.  Cor.  xv.,  15.  One 
of  two  things  is  absolutely'  true :  Clirist  arose  from  the 
dead,  or  ten  of  his  apostles  jjreached  it  and  died  attes- 
ting it  when  they  knew  it  Avas  absolutely  false. 

Add  to  this  the  former  position,  prejudices  and  i)ros- 
pects  of  the  apostle  Paul,  his  own  account  of  his  con- 
version, the  incentives  that  would  move  him  to  fabricate 
such  a  story,  and  enter  upon  such  a  life  of  sufi'ering  and 
self-denial,  w^ith  no  prospect  but  a  life  of  suffering  end- 
ing in  martyrdom,  and  all  for  what  he  knew  to  be  abso- 
lutely false!  Mistake  with  him  was  impossible.  The 
"glory  of  that  light,"  that  voice  in  his  mother  tongue, 
the  three  days'  blindness,  his  "vision  of  Ananias  coming 
to  heal  hun,"  the  scales  falling  from  his  eyes,  his  sub- 
sequent visions  and  revelations,  make  it  as  impossible 
for  him  to  be  mistaken  in  the  facts  he  testified  to,  as 


198  COLLEGE   OF    COLLEGES. 

it  was  to  be  mistaken  in  his  own  existence.  And  yet, 
after  preaching  them  down  to  old  age,  as  he  was  ending 
a  life  of  suffering,  in  sight  of  the  scaffold,  he  wrote  to 
his  son  Timoth}' — "I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and 
the  time  of  ni}^  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
shall  give  me  at  that  day." 

No  man  could  leave  what  he  left,  and  suffer  what  he 
suff'ered,  and  spend  his  life  in  telling  wdiat  he  knew  to 
be  false,  and  die  uttering  such  words,  when  by  telling 
the  truth  he  could  save  his  life.  He  who  can  believe 
human  nature  capable  of  such  a  thing,  must  have  lost 
his  reason  or  all  that  is  goo<l  in  man. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST. 

And  Our  Relations  to  Ilim— Seimon  by  Dr.  A.  J.  Gorrlon,  of  Boston- 
Christ  ill  the  rast,  tlie  Present  and  the  Future— Eternal  Life  Born 
of  Christ— Gospel  Gives  New  Heredity— Spiritual  Grafting— We  Died 
in  Clirist— Justification  by  Substitution— Resurrection— Hope  of 
Salvation— Thi-ee  Curses  Lifted  by  Christ. 

It  is  a  universal  law  that  eveiwtliing-  that  happened  to 
Christ  is  experienced  by  every  Christian.  We  are  not 
saved  so  much  by  a  creed  as  by  faith  in  a  person ;  and, 
if  truly  united  to  Christ,  may  say  without  presumption 
that  what  He  is  w^e  are,  w^hat  He  was  w^e  were,  w  hat 
He  is  to  be  w-e  shall  be.  There  is  a  striking  parallel 
between  the  life  of  a  Christian  and  that  of  Christ,  but 
the  illustration  is  faulty  in  that  parallels  never  meet, 
Avhile  the  very  glory  of  this  truth  is'  that,  w^hen  the 
soul  becomes  united  to  Christ,  the  two  lives  never  sep- 
arate. 

To  set  before  you  the  life  of  Chi-ist,  and  our  relation 
then  forward.  As  God  laid  down  his  name  to  Moses  as 
the  "I  am,"  Jesus  gave  his  name  at  Patmos  as  the 
"I  am "  and  the  "I  am  to  be;  "  "I  am  the  Alpha  and  the 
Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  first  and  the  last, 
w^hich  is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come: "  a  very 
remarkable  expression.  In  other  w^ords,  Christ  when 
He  became  incarnate,  conjugated  his  existence  to  our 
finite  modes  and  tenses,  and  just  as  God,  the  Absolute, 
reduced  himself  in  his  omnipotence  to  our  existence,  so 
He  reduced  his  eternity  to  our  time,  and  considered 
himself  the  One  that  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come. 

Let  lis  begin  with  Christ  in  his  pre-existent  state, 

199 


200  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

the  One  that  was.  At  the  beginning  of  John  we 
read:  "In  the  beginning  Avas  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was 
in  the  beginning  with  God."  The  ''was"  here  is  re- 
peated: it  denotes  the  existence  of  Christ,  the  uncre- 
ated One,  in  distinction  from  created  things.  He  was, 
■  and  all  things  came  to  be  through  Him.  This  same  idea 
is  brought  out  in  Christ's  discussion  with  the  Jews  about 
Abraham  (John  viii.,  58):  He  said,  "Before  Abraiiam 
was,  I  am."  A  very  striking  contrast — not  "before  Abra- 
ham began  to  be,  I  began  to  be,"  but  "before  Abraham 
began  to  be,  I  am."  So  He  makes  himself  by  words  the 
uncreated  One. 

The  idea  of  Christ,  the  Son,  suggests  the  idea  that  the 
Father  existed  before  the  Son,  but,  put  in  connection 
with  what  I  just  quoted,  you  see  that  this  is  not  true. 
As  soon  as  there  was  a  God,  there  was  a  Son  of  God; 
as  soon  as  there  was  a  Father,  there  was  an  only  begot- 
ten Son  of  that  Father;  and  He  is  called  the  only  begot- 
ten Son  simply  because  his  being  is  grounded  in  the 
being  of  God,  and  his  life  proceeded  from  that  of  the 
Father  by  unbroken  generation,  and  tends  to  that  of  the 
Father  by  unbroken  communion.  A  beautiful  expres- 
sion in  Hebrews  i.  brings  out  this  idea  figuratively: 
"  Who  being  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person;"  literally,  "who  being  the  reunion 
of  forces  of  his  Father's  glory."  As  soon  as  there  is  a 
sun,  there  must  be  sunlight,  for  all  other  rays  center 
in  the  sun  itself ;  as  soon  as  there  was  a  God,  there  was 
a  Son  of  God.  That  is  what  is  meant  by  the  eternal 
generation  or  pre-existence  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son 
of  God. 

Can  we  have  any  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  in  the  past  ? 
In  Eph.  i.,  4,  we  read:  "According  as  He  hath  chosen 


THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST.  201 

us  in  Him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world ;"  and  in 
11.  Thess.,  ii.,  13:  "because  (lod  hath  from  the  beginning- 
chosen  you  to  salvation  through  sanctiflcation  of  the 
Spirit."  "But,"  someone  says,  "that  must  be  a  mere 
internal  relation,  since  we  were  not  in  being  at  the  be- 
ginning." Take  the  great  evangelical  text,  John  vi.,  47: 
"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  eternal  life."  AVhat 
is  eternal  life  ?  It  is  our  natural  life  prolonged  in  dura- 
tion ;  for  that  is  under  sin,  and  tends  to  death,  as  the 
Jordan  pours  into  the  Dead  Sea.  That  which  is  born 
of  the  flesh  is  flesh.  Develop  and  reproduce  it  forever, 
and  it  cannot  become  eternal.  So  the  eternal  life  cannot 
be  crami)ed  so  as  to  become  our  natural  life.  The  two 
ai^e  distinct.  Eternal  life  is  just  as  truly  without  begin- 
ning as  without  end.  Jesus  says  (John  iii.,  3):  "£>:- 
cept  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God."  The  margin  reads,  "Born  from  above,"  and 
the  Grreek,  ay  go  dar^  which  means  "from  the  beginning." 
Christ  meant,  except  a  man  be  born  of  a  birth  that  has 
its  origin,  not  simply  in  Adam  in  the  bosom  of  Paradise, 
but  in  Jesus  Christ  in  the  bosom  of  God ;  which  dates 
not  to  the  beginning  of  creation,  but  to  the  beginning  of 
eternity.  That  seems  an  incredible  idea,  yet  I  think 
I  can  illustrate  it.  The  word  "born"  and  the  word 
"borne"  are  the  same,  they  say.  If  I  put  off  a  boat  on 
the  Connecticut,  I  am  borne  on  the  current,  and  all  the 
water,  back  to  the  very  fountain,  is  behind  me  to  push 
me  on.  So,  when  I  am  born  again,  I  come  into  the  di- 
vine life,  and  all  the  power  of  the  divine  life  from  the 
beginning  is  behind  me  to  push  me  on  toward  God.  So 
you  see  we  have  something  to  do  with  God  in  the  pixj- 
existent  state. 

The  bane  of  human  life  is  bad  heredity  in  the  cur- 
rent of  descent :  you  cannot  get  out  of  it.    "Oh,  that 


202  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

I  could,"  many  a  man  has  said.  The  fathers  have  eaten 
sour  gi^apes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge, 
says  the  Scriptures.  The  fathers  have  drunk  the  cup  of 
sinful  pleasure,  and  the  children  have  drunk  the 
dregs.  Many  come  into  this  world  mortgaged  up  to  the 
very  last  point,  the  sins  of  the  fathers  being  visited 
on  the  children  !  I  heard  a  man  say  :  "All  that  I  have, 
all  that  I  can  exi)ect  to  find  in  this  world,  I  would  give 
instantly,  if  I  could  blot  out  my  ancestry.  So  far  as  I 
trace  it,  there  is  not  one  virtuous  man  in  the  whole  line. 
If  I  break  it  up  my  sons  ma}^  revert  to  the  old  type." 
With  Paul,  we  struggle  and  cry  out:  "Oh,  wretched 
man  that  I  am.  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death?"  The  w^ondrous  thing  about  the  gospel  is 
that  it  gives  us  a  new  heredity.  I  count  that  the  very 
highest  and  sublimest  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  re- 
generation. A  man  grafting  trees  saws  off  a  limb  to 
put  in  the  scion.  If  the  limb  is  rotten,  he  has  to  saw  it 
off  nearer  to  the  trunk.  We  were  grafted  in  Adam, 
but  it  Avas  discovered  that  the  branch  w^as  rotten,  and 
then  God  began  at  the  very  beginning,  and  grafted  us 
into  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  divine  God.  Dr., 
Williams,  of  Boston,  was  asked,  "How  early  do  you 
think  the  training  of  a  child  ought  to  begin?"  He  re- 
plied instantly,  "A  Imndred  years  before  the  child's 
birth."  When  God  would  build  u^j  a  child  holy  in  all 
things  He  goes  back  to  the  very  beginning,  and  gives 
us  our  birth  in  Gcd  himself:  "Which  were  born,  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
but  of  God."  The  river  of  life  has  its  soui-ces  in  the 
very  throne  of  God,  and,  when  we  get  that  life,  we  have 
something  in  us  wliich  tends  to  mal^e  us  do  well,  instead 
of  doing  ill.  As  from  Adam  we  had  this  hereditary 
tendency  to  do  wrong,  so,  when  we  are   grafted   into 


THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST.  20:3 

Jesus  Christ  and  given  the  eternal  life,  we  have  that 
influence  impelling  us  to  holiness:  "WhosoeA'er  is  born 
of  God  doth  not  conunit  sin,  for  his  seed  remaineth  in 
him,  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God." 
(I.  John,  iii.,  9.)  At  first  sight,  that  is  startling,  and  has 
bewildei^d  many  peoi:>le.  "I  thought  I  sinned  every 
day,"  they  say,  and  yet  here  it  is  written  "that  whoso- 
ever is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin."  That  means, 
jiow  it  is  his  nature  to  do  right,  to  live  in  holiness,  be- 
cause God's  life  is  in  him.  The  difference  between  the 
regenerate  and  the  unregenerate  man  thus  is,  that  the 
unregenerate  man  lives  in  sin  and  he  loves  it,  but  the 
regenerate  man  lapses  into  sin  and  he  loathes  it.  So 
the  life  of  Christ  and  the  life  of  the  believer  come 
together,  and  the  life  of  God  comes  into  us,  and,  lit- 
tle b}^  little,  we  shall  overcome  sin,  till  we  are  satisfied 
with  His  likeness. 

In  New  Hampshire,  I  have  looked  again  and  again  at 
the  process  of  natural  grafting.  Two  saplings  grew  up 
and  crossed  each  other,  and  the  bark  was  w^orn  off*,  the 
sap  mingled,  and  began  to  flow  from  one  to  the  other, 
and  they  grew  together.  The  curious  fact  is  that  the 
weaker  began  to  wither,  and  the  other  grew  strong,  so 
that  now,  while  there  are  two  trunks  at  the  bottom,  there 
IS  only  one  trunk  at  the  top.  So  the  sinner  through  re- 
pentance comes  into  contact  with  Jesus  Christ.  A 
feeling  in  our  hearts  which  we  call  repentance  takes 
hold  of  a  feeling  in  our  hearts  which  we  call  faith,  and 
then,  by-and-bye,  we  reach  that  condition  where  Christ's 
life  has  perfect  dominion,  and  we  can  say :  "The  life 
I  live  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God.  I  live,  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." 

Secondly,  "I  am,"  the  present  life  of  Christ,  extend- 
ing, we  may  say,  from  His  first  advent  to  His  second. 


204  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

You  read  in  John  i.,  14:  '^\n(1  the  Word  was  made  flesh 
and  dwelt  amoHg  us  (and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glori- 
as of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father),  full  of  grace  and 
truth."  That  is  the  incarnation,  not  an  end  in  itself, 
but  only  a  means  to  a  higher  end,  yiz:  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  could  not  have 
taken  place  except  He  had  been  incarnated  in  our  na- 
ture. Jesus  Christ  did  not  cease  to  be  God  when  He 
became  man.  Martin  Luther  puts  it  very  beautifully : 
"Jesus  Christ  was  God,  but  He  chose  not  to  be  God, 
in  order  that  He  might  be  our  servant,  and  chose  to  be 
our  servant,  in  order  that  He  might  raise  the  burden  of 
our  sins ;  but  never  did  He  cease  to  be  God."  How 
wonderfully  John  brings  this  out :  "And  no  man  hath 
ascended  up  to  heaven  but  He  that  came  down  from 
heaven,  even  the  Son  of  Man  which  is  in  heaven."  (John 
iii.,  13.)  Jesus  Christ  lived  there  so  constantly  that  we 
could  say,  even  while  here,  "The  Son  of  Man  which  is  in 
heaven."  It  was  necessary  that  He  should  accomplish 
His  worh,  and  also  that  He  should  keep  fast  hold  of  God : 
"For  verily,  He  took  not  on  Him  the  nature  of  angels ; 
but  He  took  on  Him  the  seed  of  Abraham  (Heb.  ii., 
IG);  in  the  original  "He  took  hold  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham,"  the  word  employed  where  the  Lord  "caught" 
Peter,  in  the  lake  of  i^alilee.  When  our  race  was  sink- 
ing under  this  burden  of  condemnation,  Christ  reached 
down  and  took  hold  of  the  seed  of  Abraham.  Just  as 
my  brain  takes  hold  of  my  body  with  these  encircling 
fingers  of  nerve  and  fibre  and  muscle,  holding  and  con- 
trolling that  body;  so  Christ  took  it  with  an  inward 
hold.  But  He  did  not  let  go  of  God's  nature.  Had 
Christ  taken  hold  of  our  humanity,  and  let  go  of  God, 
we  know  not  but  He  might  Himself  have  been  dragge<l 
down  and  sunken  in  our  own  perdition,  such  a  tremen- 


THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST.  205 

dous  weight  and  awful  burden  of  our  condemnation  did 
He  came  under. 

If  tins  be  so,  we  see  the  force  of  these  words.  He 
took  hold  of  our  nature,  in  order  that  He  might  die,  and 
rise  again  in  it.  "  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  according  to 
the  Scriptures."  (I.  Cor.,  xv.,  3.)  Christ  took  all  these 
facts  into  his  life.  He  is  not  simpl}-  the  man  that  is,  but 
the  man  that  was.  Just  as  the  tree  holds  the  growth 
of  former  years  in  the  rings  on  the  trunk,  so  He  holds 
all — the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  "  I  am  He  that 
Avas  dead  :  behold,  I  am  alive  forevermore."  If  we  come 
into  relation  with  Him,  all  that  He  was  we  w^ere,  and 
what  He  is  we  become. 

He  died  for  our  sins.  'Tor  the  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us;  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died 
for  all,  then  were  all  dead  "  (II.  Cor.,  v.,  14),  by  the  true 
Tersion,  ^'Then  have  all  died,"  past  definite.  That 
means,  if  He  was  our  representative,  what  He  did  for 
us,  Avas  done  by  us.  By  His  death  is  meant  our  death, 
and  Ave  can  say,  Avith  Paul,  ''I  was  crucified  with  Christ," 
one  of  the  sublimest  facts  in  the  New  Testament.  Dur- 
ing a  speech  in  war  time  a  man  in  the  audience  called 
out:  "Did  you  knoAA'  old  John  Brown?"  "KnoAV  him," 
he  exclaimed,  "knoAv  him.  I  was  hung  with^him." 
Everybody  kncAv  what  he  meant ;  he  was  so  completely 
with  him  in  the  cause  of  liberty  that  he  felt  that,  when 
John  BroAvn  was  hung,  he  was  hung.  So  looking  back 
to  the  cross,  Paul  could  say  :  "He  died,  and  I  died  in 
Him." 

We  are  not  pardoned  on  the  ground  of  any  compro- 
mise. God  has  not  agreed  to  let  us  oif  for  fifty  cents 
on  a  dollar:  He  has  not  allowed  us  to  go  into  bank- 
ruptcy and  take  a  poor  debtor's  oath.  We  are  forgiven 
on  the  ground  of  justice.    Justification  is  Paul's  word. 


206  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

He  is  just  to  you  because  in  Christ  you  liave  died.  So 
in  Romans,  you  read:  "he  that  is  dead  is  free  from 
sin ;''  revised  yersiou,  "he  that  hath  died  is  justified 
from  sin."  A  man  was  drafted  in  the  war,  and  his  sub- 
stitute went  to  the  field  of  battle  and  died.  When  the 
man  was  drafted  again,  he  pleaded  that  he  was  dead,  and 
was  justified  by  the  courts.  That  point  has  been  de- 
cided in  court  three  times :  once  in  America,  once  in 
France,  and  once  in  Germany. 

The  resurrection  is  the  complement  to  the  crucifixion. 
His  risen  body  is  God's  receipt  come  back  to  declare  that 
the  debt  has  been  canceled,  and  there  is  no  one  in  con- 
demnation. Thus  we  are  justified  by  the  risen  Christ. 
Our  justification  could  not  be  withholden  a  day  longer. 
Some  people  talk  about  how  Christ  burst  the  bars  of 
death.  He  did  not.  Had  He  come  out  of  the  grave 
twenty-four  hours  sooner,  he  would  have  broken  jail, 
but  He  could  not  have  been  kept  there  any  longer,  be- 
cause the  time  had  expired  for  which  He  had  been  sen- 
tenced. We  are  told  distinctly  that  He  was  raised  from 
the  dead,  because  Ife  could  not  be  holden  by  death. 

Putting  these  last  two  points  together,  in  Colossians 
(iii.,  1)  we  read:  "If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek 
those  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on 
the  right  hand  of  God."  As  He  was,  so  we  are,  and  as 
He  is  to  be  so  we  shall  be,  dead  Avith  Him  and  risen  with 
Him.  "For  what  the  law  could  not  do  in  that  it  was 
w^eak  through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  His  own  Son  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the 
flesh."  (Horn,  viii.,  3.)  He  could  not  fight  the  battle  of 
sin  outside  and  so  came  inside,  and  fought  it  out  in  the 
flesh  itself.  I  remember  a  thrilling  scene  described 
by  a  historian  at  the  siege  of  lialaklava.  It  seeemd  at 
one  time  that  it  was  to  be  taken,  and  one  of  the  besiegers 


THE  PEIiSON  OF  CHRIST.  207 

leaped  upon  the  l^attlements,  and  waved  a  flag  there. 
One  of  the  defenders  instantly  leaped  out  and  threw  his 
arms  around  his  waist.  The  besieger  grasped  the  other 
by  the  throat,  but  he  made  a  supreme  effort,  and  leaped 
with  him  to  the  depths.  Both  were  dashed  to  pieces, 
but  the  city  Avas  saved.  Jesus  Christ  grasped  our  na- 
ture, and  the  conviction  of  that  nature  grasped  Him 
around  the  throat.  He  carried  our  nature  into  the  grave, 
but  rose  again  with  it,  and  carried  it  into  heaven,  where 
He  to-day  lives  in  that  nature. 

Jesus  Christ  is  gone  before  ; 
In  the  body,  here  He  wore  : 
He  that  as  our  brother  died, 
Is  our  brother  glorified. 

The  future  life  of  Christ:  the  One  to  come.  He  is 
called  antichrist  who  denieth  Jesus  Christ's  coming.  The 
moment  He  took  His  place  on  the  throne,  He  set  His 
face  towards  this  earth  in  anticipation.  We  are  to  take 
His  attitude,  to  which  are  three  parties.  The  believer, 
Jesus  Christ  Himself,  and  nature  itself,  are  all  repre- 
sented. We  often  hear  that  such  a  person  "cherishes 
a  hope  that  his  sins  are  forgiven."  ''What  man  seeth, 
why  doth  he  yet  hope  for  ?"  Hope  has  onl^^  to  do  with 
what  is  future.  "Which  hope  we  have  as  an  anchor  of 
the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast."  He  is  there,  and  He  is  our 
hope.  Throughout  the  Scriptures,  hope  means  simply 
the  anticipation  of  Christ's  return. 

Tn  the  enumeration  of  the  various  articles  of  the 
Christian  armor,  we  are  told  of  the  helmet,  "the  hope 
of  salvation."  The  head  is  the  vulnerable  point  with 
students.  I  never  found  a  man  who  had  a  lively  hope 
of  Jesus  Christ  who  was  sceptical.  Jesus  Christ 
has  a  work  to  complete  on  the  earth.  How  strange  that 
any  intelligent  Christian  should  think  that  we  are  going 
to  be  taken  off  to  some  remote,  indefinite,  transcendental 


208  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

region,  beyond  the  stars,  for  our  reward.  Christ  has 
much  to  do  on  the  earth :  the  restitution  of  all  things  in 
the  soul,  the  bod}^  and  the  earth.  He  has  begun  to  re- 
store just  in  that  order :  regeneration,  restoring  the 
soul  to  God;  resurrection,  restoring  the  body  to  God; 
regenesis,  restoring  the  earth  to  God. 

To  vindicate  His  character,  Christ  must  have  His 
throne  on  the  very  earth  where  He  had  His  Cross.  Did 
you  ever  think  there  were  three  parties  that  suffered 
under  the  curse ;  the  woman,  the  man,  and  the  earth  ? 
The  w^oman's  curse  Avas  to  bring  forth  in  sorrow :  the 
man's  curse  was  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sw^eat  of  his 
brow  ;  and  the  curse  of  the  eartl;  was,  ^ ^thorns  and  briars 
shall  it  bring  forth  to  them."  Christ  took  every  one 
of  these  curses.  He  came  to  this  life  from  the  w^omb, 
md  Paul  says :  "Nevertheless,  she  shall  be  saved 
through  the  childbearing  :"  that  is,  the  bearing  of  Christ 
is  the  salvation  of  the  woman.  When  He  humbled  Him- 
self that  He  might  be  born  of  a  virgin  He  took  that 
curse.  In  the  garden  He  took  the  man's  curse,  for  He 
sweat  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood.  When  those 
sweat  drops  fell  to  the  earth,  it  w^as  a  token  that  by-and- 
bye  this  whole  earth  is  to  be  renewed.  And,  when  He 
went  up  to  the  cross.  He  took  the  earth's  curse,  for  they 
put  a  crown  of  thorns  on  Him,  and  all  the  universe  saw 
that,  just  as  He  bore  the  thorns  on  His  head,  He  was 
to  lift  that  curse  off  from  the  earth.  The  great  German 
poet  breaks  forth  in  this  strain:  "O  earth,  thou 
grain  of  dust  in  the  infinite  spaces,  thou  Bethlehem 
Ephratah  among  the  princely  cities  of  the  universe, 
thou  art  and  thou  remainest  the  one  among  ten  thousand 
lights  and  stars.  He  that  once  trod  thy  sands  will  yet 
return  to  thee  and  accomplish  a  great  work,  and,  as 
thou  dost  drink  up  His  blood  and  His  sweat  and  His 


THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST  200 

tears,  thou  wilt  furnish  for  Him  a  throne  and  corona- 
tion." 

Everj^thing  said  about  Jesus  Christ  in  this  final 
triumph  is  true  about  you  and  me,  if  we  are  His.  He  is 
to  judge  the  world,  and  we  are  to  share  with  Him.  He 
is  to  reign  and  we  are  permitted  to  reign  with  Him.  He 
is  to  subdue  all  things  under  His  feet,  and  we  are  to  be 
sharers  in  that  triumph.  Is  it  not  true  that  whatever 
happened  to  Jesus  Christ  comes  to  pass  in  the  soul  and 
body  of  each  believer  ? 

Do  you  want  to  knoAV  what  3'our  future  is  to  be  ? 
Study  what  Christ  was  after  the  resurrection.  See  what 
He  was,  absent  and  present,  now  eating  bread  and  fish 
and  honeycomb,  and  now  talking  majestically  about 
the  kingdom ;  now  directing  the  net  of  the  disciples  to 
be  cast  into  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  and  now  directing  the 
disciples  to  spread  a  gTeat  net  of  missions.  What  a 
strange  life  I  That  gives  you  some  idea  of  what  we  shall 
be  when  we  shall  reign  with  Him.  "They  that  wait  upon 
the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength,  they  shall  mount 
up  on  wings  as  eagles,  they  shall  walk  and  not  be  weary, 
they  shall  run  and  not  faint."  God  grant  that  we  may 
be  so  identified  with  Jesus  Christ  that  we  shall  be 
thrilled  and  stirred  to  the  very  depths  every  day  with 
the  sublime  truth  that  all  that  He  is  to  be  we  shall  be 
in  Him. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

GRACE. 

Sermon  by  IMr.  D.  L.  ISIoody— Grace  in  Threefold  Aspect— Salvation  a 
Free  Gift— Trying  to  Save  Oneself  Illustrated  by  Indian— God's  Gift 
of  Eternal  Life— Grace  Needed  to  Live  out  the  Christian  Life— Lady 
Pendulum— Grace  given  Day  by  Day— Grace  to  work  out  Salva- 
tion—Show Your  Colors. 

Titus  ii.,  11-15:  "For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth 
salvation  hath  appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  us  that, 
denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live 
soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  present  world ; 
looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and-  the  glorious  appear- 
ing of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ; 
who  gave  Himself  for  us,  that  He  might  redeem  us  from 
all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  Himself  a  peculiar  peo- 
l^le,  zealous  of  good  works.  These  things  speak,  and 
exhort,  and  rebuke  with  all  authority.  Let  no  man 
despise  thee." 

You  will  find  here  grace  brought  out  in  a  threefold 
aspect :  grace  that  brings  salvation,  grace  that  teaches 
me  to  live  out  this  salvation,  and  grace  teach- 
ing me  to  work  it  out.  If  you  are  saved  and  have  grace 
enough  to  live  out  your  salvation  and  grace  enough  to 
work  it  out,  even  your  enemies  will  have  to  admit  that 
you  have  an  unnatural  power.  There  is  not  a  word 
in  the  English  language  so  misunderstood  as  grace, 
which  means  undeserved  mercy.  The  moment  one 
finds  that  out,  he. will  not  be  trying  to  establish  his 
own  righteousness,  or  try  to  save  himself  by  his  works. 
More  people  are  kept  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
this  country  by  their  good  works  and  good  resolutions, 

210 


GRACE.  211 

than  by  any  other  thing.  Many  think  if  they  do  as 
near  right  as  they  can,  they  will  come  out  all  right. 
It  is  not  by  works  that  we  are  saved,  but  by  grace. 
In  Martin  Luther's  day  that  was  fought  out.  It  is  to 
him  that  worketh  not.  Under  the  law  it  was  "do  and 
live,"  but  under  the  new  dispensation  it  is  "live  and  do." 

The  grace  of  Grod  that  bringeth  salvation  has  appear- 
ed to  all  men.  Salvation  is  as  free  as  the  air  we 
breathe.  The  law  never  will  nor  can  save  men.  I  see 
some  of  you  scowl.  Go  and  see  if  3^ou  can  find  any 
man  that  was  saved  by  the  laAv.  What  then,  did  God 
give  the  law  for  ?  Paul  tells  us  in  Eomans,  3rd  chap- 
ter, that  it  was  "  to  stop  man's  mouth."  When  a  man 
comes  near  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  stops  his  mouth. 
Many  a  time  I  have  heard  men  in  the  inquiry  room 
talking  about  "  what  I  think."  I  always  say  that  man  is 
a  good  way  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  When  he  is 
near  the  kingdom  he  has  nothing  to  say.  Then  God 
begins  to  deal  with  Him. 

Before  the  Chicago  fire,  I  promised  to  take  my  chil- 
dren to  Lincoln  Park  to  see  the  bear.  After  my  little 
boy  was  ready  he  played  in  the  dirt  and  got  his  face 
dirty.  When  we  got  to  the  park  he  said:  "Take  me 
in  and  show  me  the  bears."  "Oh,  but  you  are  dirty." 
"Why,  mamma  just  washed  me."  "But,"  said  I,  "you 
have  got  some  dirt  on  your  face."  But  I  could  not  per- 
suade him.  I  just  took  him  to  the  looking-glass,  and 
it  stopped  his  mouth.  That  is  what  the  law  is  good 
for,  to  stop  every  man's  mouth.  A  man  who  is  trying 
to  measure  himself  by  the  law  is  pretty  small,  but  if 
measured  by  his  neighbors,  he  is  about  two  inches  taller 
than  anyone  else.  Lender  the  old  dispensation  the  prodi- 
gal would  have  been  turned  out  into  the  square  and 
stoned.    The  law  says,  "Smite  him;"  grace  says,  For- 


212  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES 

give."  The  law  says,  "Cast  him  out;"  grace  says,  "Bring 
him  in." 

Then  I  will  admit  salvation  is  worth  working  for, 
going  through  a  great  deal  of  suffering  for,  but  you 
don't  get  it  that  way.  It  is  a  gift,  and  if  you  work 
for  a  gift,  it  ceases  to  be  a  gift.  If  I  offered  you  that 
Bible  as  a  gift,  you  must  take  it  as  a  gift.  The  wages 
of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life.  If 
there  is  a  man  here  who  is  not  saved,  you  have  not 
to  lift  a  hand  for  salvation,  but  just  receive  it.  If 
man  could  have  worked  his  way  back  to  heaven,  do 
you  think  Christ  would  have  suffered  and  died?  When 
Christ  stood  on  earth,  they  came  to  Him  and  said : 
"What  shall  we  do  to  work  the  works  of  God?"  Did 
He  tell  them  to  feed  the  hungry?  "This  is  the  work 
of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent." 
"  But,"  you  say,  "  Does  not  the  Bible  say  that  pure 
and  undefiled  religion  is  to  visit  the  poor  and  the  father- 
less?" Yes,  but  He  doesn't  sa}^  that  to  a  dead  man. 
A  man  must  first  have  spiritual  life.  Then  he  gives 
him  work. 

Eph.  ii.,  8-9:  "For  by  grace  are  we  saved  through 
faith ;  and  that  not  of  ourselves  :  it  is  the  gift  of  God : 
not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast."  In  man's 
kingdom  you  hear  a  great  deal  of  boasting,  but  in  God's 
kingdom  it  is  all  excluded.  A  man  goes  into  a  city 
and  gets  rich  suddenly,  and  you  hear  he  is  called  a 
self-made  man.  But  if  you  get  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  there  will  be  no  chance  for  your  boasting ;  because 
if  you  get  there, you  must  take  it  as  a  beggar  takes  a  gift. 

When  I  was  preaching  in  a  southern  city  a  few 
years  ago,  the  minister  said:  "When  you  go  into 
the  pulpit,  I  want  you  to  notice  a  cei-tain  man,  and  I 
will  tell  you  about  him."    "Well,"  I  said,  when  I  got 


GRACE.  213 

back,  ^^what  about  that  man?''  "Well,"  he  said, 
"when  the  war  broke  out,  he  A^'as  appointed  a  spy, 
w^as  arrested  as  a  sp}^,  court-martialed,  and  ordered  to 
be  shot.  When  in  the  guard-house,  waiting  to  be  exe- 
cuted, he  would  curse  Lincoln,  to  tantalize  the  soldiers, 
and  at  last  they  said  they  woidd  be  glad  when  he  was 
shot.  One  day  a  Northern  officer  came,  and  he  thought 
ho  was  to  be  shot,  but  the  officer  gave  him  a  pardon  from 
Lincoln.  The  man's  countenance  changed,  and  he  said  he 
had  never  done  an^^thing  for  him.  When  the  truth  dawn- 
ed on  him,  he  v.ept  like  a  child."  That  is  grace.  The  law 
said,  "Shoot  him;"  grace  said,  "Save  his  life."  So  a 
Scotcliman  said  it  took  two  to  convert  him,  the  Al- 
mighty and  himself.  When  asked  what  he  did  he  said, 
he  did  ever^^thing  he  could  against  it,  and  the  Almighty 
did  the  rest.  Yon  have  heard  of  the  man  at  sea  who 
was  very  much  excited  when  he  thought  the  vessel 
was  going  do^nii,  and  bothered  the  captain  by  asking 
what  he  could  do  to  help.  Finally  the  captain  said, 
"  If  you  want  to  heli)  save  the  vessel,  hold  up  that  rope." 
He  did  so,  and  after  the  vessel  was  saved,  found  that 
he  had  been  told  to  hold  on,  just  to  keep  him  still. 

Eom.  iv.,  4-5 :  "Now^  to  him  that  worketh  is  the  reward 
not  reckoned  of  grace  but  of  debt.  But  to  him  that 
worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  Him  that  justifieth  the 
ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness." 
Notice,  "to  him  that  worketh  not."  "But,"  you  say, 
"Avhat  is  that  passage,  'work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling?' "  It  is  curious  to  notice  how 
some  men  talk  about  working  out  their  salvation  when 
they  have  not  got  it.  We  take  salvation  as  a  gift, 
then  w^e  work  from  the  cross,  not  towards  it.  We  work 
because  we  are  saved,  not  to  be  saved.  In  other  words, 
he  says,  finally,  that  if  you  work  you  do  not  get  it.  It  is 


214  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

"to  Mm  that  worketh  not."  If  you  work  for  it,  it  will 
place  you  o£f  the  ground  of  grace  entirel}^,  as  if  God  owed 
you  something.  You  will  never  succeed,  till  you  give  up 
all  efforts  to  save  yourself.  Someone  asked  an  Indian 
how  he  got  converted,  and  he  built  a  fire  in  a  circle 
round  a  worm,  and  then,  after  the  worm  had  crawled 
round  every  way  and  then  laid  down  to  die,  he  reached 
over  and  took  him  out.  A  Sunday  school  teacher  trying 
to  show  what  salvation  was,  gave  one  of  the  boys 
a  watch,  and  he  grinned  at  him  and  handed  it  back.  He  ■ 
passed  it  to  the  next  one  with  the  same  result,  and  so  on 
to  the  smallest.  He  said  to  the  smallest  boy,  "Take 
me  at  my  word,"  and  he  did  and  j^ut  the  watch  in  his 
pocket.  The  teacher  said,  "  I  thank  you  for  taking  me  at 
my  word.  It  is  yours,  wind  it  up  and  it  will  keep  good 
time."  A  great  many  of  you  are  like  the  large  boys.  You 
are  offered  the  free  gift  of  God,  and  you  sit  there  and 
smile.  AYhen  you  preach  the  gospel,  not  one  in  a  hun- 
dred think  they  can  get  something  for  nothing.  Think  of 
it,  eternal  life  for  nothing.  I  wish  I  could  describe 
what  the  gift  of  God  is.  It  seems  to  me  that  men  are 
not  so  blind  that  they  couhl  take  this  gift  and  hurl 
it  back  into  the  face  of  God.  Everything  a  man  has 
got  he  will  give  for  his  life.  A  vessel  at  sea  is  becom- 
ing a  wreck;  how  much  the  passengers  would  give 
if  they  could  step  into  a  lifeboat ;  everything  they  have 
got  they  would  give  to  save  their  lives,  only  for  a  few 
short  years.  But  think  of  life  everlasting.  You  can 
have  it  now  if  you  will.  See  how  men  hold  on  to 
life,  full  of  pain,  sorrow  and  disappointment.  You  can 
hardly  take  up  a  paper  that  you  do  not  read  of  some 
terrible  calamity.  And  life  is  so  short.  Death  is  inev- 
itable. If  we  live  threescore  years  and  ten,  it  is  but 
a  breath,  it  will  soon  be  over.    But  just  to  think  of 


GRACE.  215 

the  life  without  an  end.  Can  you  comprehend  it  ? 
Life  forever,  it  is  hard  to  hold  that  thought,  but  that 
is  what  eternal  life  is.  Kot  onl}'  a  life  as  long  as  God's 
life,  but  as  pure  and  sweet  and  happj'  as  God's  life 
is.  You  go  into  a  city,  and  there  is  not  a  day  you 
do  not  see  the  hearse  winding  its  way  to  the  cemetery, 
but  there  is  one  city  in  the  universe  that  has  no  hearses, 
no  cemeteries,  where  death  never  enters,  and  where 
we  may  live  on  for  ever  and  ever,  a  life  not  onh^  as 
long  as  God's  life,  but  as  pure  as  God's  life.  That  is 
eternal  life. 

We  not  only  want  this  gift,  but  we  want  grace 
enough  to  live  it  out.  The  great  want  of  to-day  is 
grace  to  live  out  what  Ave  have.  The  cross  of  Christ 
is  suffering  more  from  its  so-called  friends  than  from 
its  enemies.  Xo  infidel  hr.s  written  a  book  that  has 
hurt  Christianity  half  so  much  as  we  Christians.  When 
a  man  lives  on  a  low  plane,  when  God  calls  him  to  a 
higher  plane,  he  injures  Christianity.  I  am  more  anx- 
ious about  the  Christians  in  these  colleges  than  about 
the  others.  God's  plan  has  always  been  to  begin  with 
His  own  disciples.  If  v,  e  are  living  as  worldly  men, 
and  yet  j^rofessing  to  be  Christians,  don't  you  see  how 
the  world  stumbles  over  us,  "Teaching  us  that,  deny- 
ing ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live 
soberly,  righteously  and  godh'  in  the  present  world ; 
looking  for  that  blessed  hope  and  the  glorious  appear- 
ing of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviom^  Jesus  Christ." 
There  is  grace  for  living,  that  is  what  we  want.  It 
takes  just  as  much  grace  for  you  to  come  here  and 
hear,  as  it  does  for  me  to  stand  here  and  preach  to 
you.  You  want  to  be  in  the  spirit,  in  order  to  catch 
the  truth  that  falls  from  the  lips  of  these  i^reachers. 
Just   make   this   pra^^er:   "'O   God,   give  me   grace  to 


216  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

get  out  of  this  convention  all  that  God  has  intended 
for  me."  If  I  do  not  get  grace  enough  to  live  with 
my  fellowmen  as  I  ought  to,  purely  among  those  T 
associate  with,  the  less  I  do  for  Christ  the  better.  What 
we  want  to  do  is  to  keep  in  mind,  that  He  has  got 
grace  enough  to  keep  us  day  by  day. 

A  lady  in  England  had  to  be  brought  to  our  meetings 
in  a  chair.  The  first  few  meetings  she  looked  scorn- 
fully at  everything  I  said.  When  the  servant  carried 
her  out  the  first  time,  I  didn't  think  she  would  ever 
come  back  again.  But  back  she  came  every  day  for 
a  week.  Finally,  she  asked  them,  ^'  Take  me  into  the 
inquiry  room."  She  said :  ^'  You  have  got  something 
I  have  not  got :  you  have  got  a  peace  and  a  joy  I  know 
nothing  about."  I  began  to  talk  to  her  about  Christ. 
"Well,"  she  said,  "When  you  go  back  to  America,  it 
will  all  be  over  with  me."  I  said,  "  That  is  so,  if  that 
is  a  mere  imjjression,  but  if  you  get  Christ  in  your 
heart,  it  will  abide."  Well,  she  could  not  believe  that 
she  could  get  an  impression  that  would  abide.  She 
came  into  the  inquiry  room  every  day.  Finally,  in  a 
sermon,  I  made  the  remark  that  some  people  want 
grace  enough  to  keep  them  all  their  lives.  I  told  the 
story  of  the  discontented  pendulum,  and  said  that  God 
gives  them  grace  day  by  day :  "  As  thy  days,  so  shall 
thy  strength  be,"  and  the  woman  says,  "that  is  me. 
I  have  been  trying  to  get  grace  enough  to  last  me  after 
Mr.  Moody  went  back  to  America."  She  came  into 
the  inquiry  room  to  tell  us  that  she  was  going  to  trust 
Him  that  day,  and  then  let  the  next  take  care  of  itself. 
She  wrote  me  a  letter  after  I  got  over  here,  that  said 
that  she  had  talked  so  much  about  it  that  they  called 
her  "Lady  Pendulum,"  and  she  gave  me  a  clock  to 
remember  her  b^^ 


GRACE.  217 

That  is  what  we  want.  Perhaps  you  have  grace 
enough  to  go  through  the  past  year  in  college,  but  not 
the  next  year.  "As  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength 
be.  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee."  God  will  not 
waste  His  grace  to  give  you  enough  this  month  for 
next  year.  John  vi.,  47:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  he  that  believeth  on  Me  hath  everlasting  life." 
We  almost  always  stop  there,  but  the  next  verse 
is,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life."  God  will  not  give  eternal 
life,  and  then  starve  it  out  of  you.  All  jou  have  to  do 
is  to  come  to  the  throne  of  grace.  AY  hat  we  want  to 
do  in  these  days  is  to  get  up  a  run  on  the  bank  of 
heaven.  I  suppose  there  is  not  a  bank  in  America  that 
you  could  not  break  with  a  run,  but,  if  we  need  more 
of  God's  grace  for  every  hour,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to 
come  boldly  and  ask  for  it.  I  am  fond  of  Rom.  v.,  1-2: 
"Therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  by  whom  also 
we  have  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we 
stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God." 
Notice  three  things:  peace  for  the  past,  grace  for 
the  present,  and  glory  for  the  future.  I  look  back  to 
Calvary,  and  see  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  who  made 
peace  for  us.  We  cannot  make  peace.  And  then  the 
grace  Avherein  you  now  stand :  "  As  thy  days,  so  shall 
thy  strength  be."  He  had  grace  to  keep  Moses  and 
Joseph  in  Egypt,  Daniel  in  Babjion,  and  so  in  all  ages 
grace  enough  to  make  His  servants  stand.  You  will 
always  find  that  men  that  have  their  eyes  filled  with 
glory  will  meet  you  with  a  joyful  countenance.  Men 
•^'ho  are  looking  back  and  are  troubled  about  the 
future,  are  not  fit  for  God's  service,  because  they  have 
got  the  great  question  of  salvation  in  their  minds.  The 
first  thing  is  to  get  that  settled.    There  is  no  trouble  but 


218  COLLEGE    OF    COLLEGES. 

God's  grace  is  enough  to  carry  jou  through.  If  the 
billows  should  rise  over  us,  as  they  did  over  Job,  God 
has  got  grace  enough  to  carry  us  right  through  them. 

Sometimes  just  a  sentence  will  give  3^ou  a  flood  of 
light.  I  saw  this  sentence :  "  All  things  before  the 
true  believer  are  glorious."  I  wanted  to  find  what 
was  before  me.  I  went  to  the  Bible,  and  found  that 
my  garments  were  to  be  the  garments  of  the  glorified, 
my  society  was  to  be  the  society  of  the  glorified, 
my  home  the  home  of  the  glorified,  that  this  vile 
body  of  mine  should  be  taken  down  and  I  should 
have  a  body  like  the  body  of  the  glorified.  Is  not 
that  something  to  lift  him  out  of  the  mist  and  fogs 
of  this  world?  But  some  peoj^le  sny  death  is  coming 
before  glory.  But  death  is  already  a  conquered  foe 
to  every  true  believer.  I  believe  the  twenty -third  Psalm 
is  more  often  quoted  than  any  other  passage  in  the 
Bible,  and  yet  how  many  people  misquote  it.  They  say, 
"Yea,  though  I  pass  through  the  dark  valley,"  and  em- 
phasize the  word  "  dark."  Did  you  ever  think  that 
the  word  "  dark  "  is  not  there  at  all  ?  "  The  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death."  Did  you  ever  see  a  shadow  in 
the  dark  ?  The  very  fact  there  is  a  shadow,  shows  there 
is  light.  "Yea,  though  I  pass  through  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death."  All  that  death  does  to  a  true 
believer  is  to  throw  a  shadow  across  his  path,  and  you 
can  walk  through  shadows.  We  pass  through  the 
portals  to  the  glorious  resurrection. 

Some  one  has  said  it  was  a  good  thing  Christ 
called  Lazarus  by  name,  or  everyone  in  that  cemetery 
would  have  risen.  "  Fear  not,"  said  Christ,  "  I  have  the 
keys  of  death  and  hell."  I  thank  God  that  no  grave- 
digger  can  dig  a  grave  deep  enough  to  bury  eternal 
life.    When  a  man  gets  eternal  life,  he  has  a  life  that 


GRACE.  210 

death,  cannot  touch.  It  is  Jesus  "Christ  formed  in  us 
the  hope  of  gh)ry.  Everj^hing  before  a  true  believer 
is  glorious.  "  Oh,  but,"  you  say,  "  sickness  may  come.'' 
Let  it  come,  He  has  grace  enough  to  carry  you  through 
that.  Else  up.  God  has  got  grace  enough  to  keep  us 
in  the  true  coui'se  of  Calvary  all  the  time.  The  joy  of 
the  Lord  is  3'our  strength.  I  never  saw  a  gloomy, 
long-faced  Christian  that  amounted  to  anything.  It 
is  worse  than  the  east  wind  in  Boston  in  March.  An 
old  martyr  said  to  the  king,  "  You  cannot  banish  me 
from  where  Christ  is."  The  king  said :  "  I  will  take 
your  property,"  and  he  said,  "  My  treasure  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God."  Then  the  king  said,  "  I  will  kill  you." 
"I  have  been  dead  forty  years,"  exclaimed  the  martyr. 
^-  What  can  I  do  ?  "  cried  the  king.  What  could  he  do  ? 
Have  you  some  crook  in  jowr  i^ath  and  a^ou  cannot  rise 
above  it?  Make  up  your  mind  you  will  not  let  these 
twelve  days  pass  before  God  lifts  you  up.  Don't  talk 
about  circumstances  being  against  you.  Isn't  God  above 
circumstances?  When  I  was  in  Scotland,  I  went  to  an  old 
bedridden  saint,  who  had  been  on  his  bed  forty  years. 
I  thought  he  would  want  me  to  read  with  him  and  com- 
fort him,  but  I  found  he  didn't  need  any  comforting. 
He  fell  when  he  Avas  fifteen  years  old,  and  broke  his 
back.  I  suppose  if  any  prophet  had  told  him  he  was  to 
lie  there  forty  years,  he  would  have  sunk  under  it. 
But  his  face  literally  beamed.  Said  I,  "  Don't  the  devil 
ever  tempt  you,  when  you  see  others  Avell  and  happy  ?  " 
"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  Mr.  Moody,  that  is  just  the  way  the 
tempter  comes  to  me.  I  see  an  old  schoolmate  of  mine 
riding  by,  and  the  devil  says,  "If  it  had  not  been  for 
your  fall,  you  might  have  been  there."  And  I  see  a  man 
walking  by,  and  the  devil  says,  "God  could  have  kept 
you  from  breaking  your  back,  and  you  could  be  walk- 


220  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEaES. 

ing  now."  "Well,"  said  I,  "what  do  you  say?" 
"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  take  him  right  to  the  cross,  and 
he  got  such  a  fright  there,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago, 
that  he  always  leaves  me  then."  I  never  saw  a  man  who 
had  so  much  of  the  grace  of  God  as  that  man,  and 
everything  was  against  him.  I  haven't  any  doubt  that 
in  eternity  we  will  thank  God  more  for  reverses  than 
for  prosperity.  I  think  John  Bmiyan  thanked  God  for 
Bedford  jail  more  than  for  anything  else.  Young  men, 
let  us  glory  in  the  cross  of  Christ. 

One  thought  more  and  I  am  through :  Grace  enough 
to  work  it  out.  First,  we  get  grace  enough  for  salvation, 
then  grace  to  live  it  out.  Get  a  surplus  before  you  get 
grace  for  others.  The  fact  is,  we  are  a  leaky  vessel, 
and  must  keep  under  the  fountain  to  keep  full.  Titus 
ii.,  14-15:  "Who  gave  Himself  for  us,  that  He  might 
redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  Himself 
a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works.  These  things 
speak  and  exhort  and  rebuke  with  all  authority.  Let 
no  man  despise  thee."  What  we  want  is  people  zealous 
of  good  works.  If  God  has  got  a  great  work,  He  calls 
some  peculiar  man  for  Him.  Most  young  men  in  col- 
leges are  afraid  of  being  peculiar.  "  I  don't  care  about 
being  known  as  a  Christian,  I  don't  propose  to  have  them 
laughing  at  me,  and  calling  me  a  deacon."  I  would 
rather  have  one  red  hot  Christian  than  the  whole  of 
these  fellows.  If  it  is  right  to  serve  the  God  of  heaven, 
go  and  take  your  stand,  and  let  the  waves  of  persecu- 
tion come,  they  cannot  extend  up  there.  Any  man  can 
go  with  the  crowd,  but  we  want  men  that  will  go 
against  the  current.  If  we  went  back  into  that  ante- 
diluvian age  and  asked  about  Enoch,  we  would  hear 
that  he  was  good,  but  very  peculiar.  He  never  went 
to  the  race  course,  where  you  would  find  all  the  country, 


GRACE.  221 

but  only  a  few  men  and  women  went  to  the  pra^^er 
meeting,  and  he  was  there.  But  he  shines  on  the  page 
of  history  brighter  than  any  star  for  two  thousand 
j^ears.  All  we  know  is  that  He  walked  with  God,  and, 
as  D]'.  Bonar  says,  "■  one  day  he  took  a  long  walk  with 
Him,  and  has  not  got  back  yet."  What  we  want 
to-day  is  peculiar  men.  The}'  used  to  say  of  Elijah, 
"  When  all  Israel  bowed  to  Baal,  that  stubborn  man 
stood  there  alone."  We  want  a  few  men  just  now  that 
will  stand.  One  Elijah  in  this  world  is  worth  ten  thous- 
and ordinary  Christians. 

If  you  live  godly,  the  scoffing,  unbelieving  and  luke- 
warm professors  won't  have  many  things  to  say  for 
you.  If  the  world  don't  have  much  to  say  against  you, 
Jesus  Christ  won't  have  much  to  say  for  you.  Step 
out  of  the  regular  line  of  things,  and  go  against  the 
current  of  the  ungodly  world.  You  are  onlj-  going 
through  college  once.  Perhaps  there  will  never 
be  a  time  in  your  life  when  jou  can  do  so  much  for 
the  Son  of  God  as  during  these  four  years.  Make  up 
your  mind  that  you  are  going  to  let  them  know  whom 
you  serve. 

May  God  help  us,  not  only  to  partake  of  the  grace  of 
God,  but  to  live  it  out  and  to  work  it  out. 


CHAPTEE  X\TII. 

THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 

Addresses  by  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon  and  Bishop  M.  E.  Baldwin— Descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit— Four  operations  of  the  Spirit :  Baptism— Prom- 
ise of  the  Spirit ;  Sealing— Ownership  and  Consecration  ;  Anointing 
—as  witli  Precious  Ointment;  Filling— "  Emptied  of  Sin,  FUled  with 
the  Spirit"— Tliree  Dispensations :  Revealing  the  Father,  Son  and 
Spirit— "  Shall  Receive  Fruits  and  Gifts  of  the  Spirit." 

Dr.  Gordon  said:  In  John  xvi.,  7,  we  read:  ''It  is  expe- 
dient for  you  that  I  go  away :  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the 
Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will 
send  Him  unto  you."  And  Christ  w^ent  away,  and  the 
Spirit  came.  He  ascended,  the  Holy  Spirit  descended:  He 
went  to  the  Father,  the  Spirit  came  to  the  Church.  The 
first  report  we  have  after  Jesus  Christ's  ascension  is 
that  He  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  The  first  word 
that  we  have  after  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  is  that  He 
sat  upon  each  of  them;  and,  just  as  Jesus  Christ's  pres- 
ent residence  and  seat  is  in  heaven,  the  Holy  Spirit's  pres- 
ent residence  is  on  earth.  Therefore  we  have  not  to  pray 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  will  come  down.  It  is  a  historical 
fact  that  the  Holy  Spirit  came  down,  and  ever  since 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  He  has  been  in  the  church.  Not 
only  that,  but  now  the  Spirit  has  a  different  relation  to 
the  church  than  He  ever  had  before.  Then  He  was  in 
the  world  in  a  certain  sense,  but  now  the  relation  is 
vastly  deeper,  and  Jesus  Christ  brings  this  out  in  John 
xiv.,  IT:  "The  Spirit  of  truth:  whom  the  world  cannot 
receive,  because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him : 
but  ye  know  Him;  for  He  dwelleth  with  you,"  present 
tense,  "and  shall  be  in  you,"  future  tense.  Up  to  the  Hay 
of  Pentecost,  the  Spirit  was  in  the  world,  touching  men 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  223 

with  a  certain  external  contact,  as  the  Hght  impinging  on 
the  eye,  but  henceforth  He  was  to  be  in  the  church  and 
in  the  believer.  "Know  ye  that  ye  are  to  be  the  temples 
of  God  through  the  holiness  that  is  in  you?"  Just  as 
Christ's  birthday  w^as  the  incarnation  of  the  second  per- 
son of  the  Trinity,  the  Daj^  of  Pentecost  is  in  a  certaiu 
sense  the  incarnation  of  the  third  person  of  the  Trinity. 
Not  only  that;  let  us  not  think  that,  because  He  is  in  us. 
He  is  only  an  influence.  He  is  just  as  trul}"  a  person  as 
Jesus  Christ  or  God  the  Father.  If  I  could  apply  the 
w^ord  '^'I"  to  anything,  it  w'ould  be  a  person,  and  Jesus 
Christ  repeatedly  applies  the  w^ord  ^'I"  to  the  Spirit. 
For  example,  where  He  said,  "Where  tw^o  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I,"  that  is  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  His  other  self,  co-equal 
with  Him,  bearing  the  same  "I." 

During  the  present  time,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  in  office. 
While  Christ  w^as  on  earth.  He  was  in  office,  and  God 
retired  from  speaking.  After  Christ  went  to  the  Father, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  came  dow^n,  then  Jesus  Christ  spoke 
oui;  of  heaven  in  revelation,  and  seven  times  repeated 
the  wordSj  "He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him 
hear  w^hat  the  Spirit  saith."  And,  as  God  the  Father 
commended  Jesus  Christ  to  us  as  a  teacher,  so  Jesus 
Christ  commends  the  Holy  Ghost. 

There  are  four  operations  of  the  Spirit  described  in 
the  New  Testament :  baptism,  sealing,  anointing,  and 
filling.  These  are  not  four  distinct  operations,  but  four 
phases  of  one  and  the  same  operation,  the  gift  of  the 
Spirit.  Just  as  we  have  four  gospels  that  tell  us  about 
Jesus  Christ,  each  one  showing  Him  in  a  different  aspect 
and  yet  all  constituting  a  single  history;  so  one  great  act 
of  which  we  sometimes  speak  as  the  enduement  of  the 
Spirit  has  these  four  heads. 


224  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

First,  baptism.  The  promise  concerning  the  Spirit  was 
first  given  in  John  i.,  33,  where  John  the  Baptist  says: 
"He  that  sent  me  to  baptize  with  water,  the  same  said 
nnto  me,  Upon  whom  tliou  shalt  see  tlie  Spirit  descend- 
ing and  remaining  on  Him,  the  same  is  He  which  bap- 
tizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost."    And  when,  on  tlie  Day  of 
Pentecost,  the  disciples  came  together  to  pray,  for  the 
Sx3irit  of  God  had  told  them  to  tarry  in  Jerusalem  and 
wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father,  that  is  precisely  this 
same  promise.    For  w^e  are  told  that  they  remembered 
the  promise  (Acts  i.,  5) :    "For  John  truly  baptized  with 
water ;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  not 
many  days  hence."    To  show  that  the  promise  was  not 
exhausted  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  I  turn  to  Acts  xi.,  16. 
When  the  Gentiles  were  brought  in,  Peter  was  first  as- 
tounded, and  then  said,  "Then  remembered  I  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  Iioav  that  He  said,  John  indeed  baptized  with 
water;  but  3^e  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Now  remember,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  baptism  of  the 
Spirit.    That  word  never  occurs  in  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  perfectly  uniform,  "baptized  in  the  Spirit."    John 
indeed  baptized  with  water,  but  He  that  cometh  after 
shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  baptize  many 
converts.  What  do  I  do  ?  First,  I  tell  them  to  fill  the  bap- 
tistry, then  I  tell  these  converts  to  close  their  e^^es  and 
yield  themselves  to  me,  and  then  I  lead  them  into  the 
water.  The  first  thing  that  Christ  did  was  to  fill  the  pool. 
The  first  thing  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  was  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  descended  and  filled  all  the  place.  The  next 
thing  was  that  they,  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost; 
they  could  not  help  it. 

Do  you  desire  to  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost? 
"Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending  and 
remaining  on  Him,  the  same  is  He  that  baptizeth  with 


THE  HOLY  SPIEIT.  225 

the  Holy  Ghost".  Jesus  Christ  is  the  administrator  now, 
not  one  of  us.  That  is  His  office.  Wliat  are  Ave  to  do, 
therefore?  Yiehi  Yourselves  to  Him.  Hold  the  hands 
and  say:  "Lord,  these  hands  that  have  been  busy  in  get- 
ting gain  and  grasping  after  x)leasure,  I  yield  to  Thee." 
Stop  the  feet  and  say ;  "  Lord,  these  feet  that  have  been 
walking  in  devious  paths,  I  surrender  to  Thee.  I  shut 
these  eyes  that  have  so  often  looked  upon  things  that 
turned  them  from  Thee."  If  you  put  ^^ourself  in 
His  influence,  He  will  surely  do  it.  He  shall  bap- 
tize with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  we  want  that. 

I  was  reading  not  long  since  the  annals  of  mission- 
aries among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  was  struck  with 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  tribes  came  in  great  numbers 
to  be  baptized,  and  the  leader  came,  but  held  his  arm 
out  of  the  water.  When  they  asked  him  why  he  did 
that,  he  said,  "I  wanted  to  preserve  my  right  arm 
to  fight  my  enemies."  That  was  significant.  How 
many  want  to  preserve  the  pocket  book,  an  arm  with 
which  to  carry  out  their  own  selfish  and  w^orldly  battles ! 
How  many  w  ant  to  preserve  an  ear,  an  eye,  or  a  foot ! 
What  is  needed  to-day  is  that  kind  of  entering  into 
the  Spirit,  in  which  we  are  henceforth  to  live ;  in  the 
Spirit  as  an  element  that  completely  covers  us. 

Remember  that  there  are  two  spirits  spoken  of  in 
the  Scriptures.  One  is,  "the  spirit  that  now  worketh 
in  the  children  of  disobedience."  Many  are  baptized 
in  that  spirit.  The  other  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit 
of  God.  There  are  these  two  classes:  suppose  we  try 
to  change  places  with  them.  I  take  a  fish  out  of  water, 
and  he  begins  to  struggle  and  pant  and  in  a  little  while 
dies.  Suppose  that  I  take  you  and  put  you  into  a  low 
saloon,  where  they  are  drinking  lager  beer  and  utter- 
ing all  kind  of  blasphemy;  would  you  gasp  and  pant 


226  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

as  out  of  3^oiir  element?  If  you  were  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  you  would.  Suppose  you  take  a  man  out 
of  a  saloon  and  bring  him  here  to-night,  would  he  be 
out  of  his  element?  I  think  he  would.  If  we  are 
baptized  with  the  Spirit,  we  will  walk  in  the  Spirit, 
live  in  the  Spirit,  and  pray  always  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 
I  am  sure  that  is  not  a  vague  idea  and,  since  the  Scrip- 
ture speaks  so  plainly  about  it,  I  think  we  ought  to 
realize  it. 

Second,  sealing.  In  II.  Cor.,  i.,  22,  Christians  are 
spoken  of  thus :  "  Who  hath  also  sealed  us,  and  given 
the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts."  Sealing  means 
two  things,  ownership  and  consecration.  That  comes 
out  in  a  beautiful  manner  in  11.  Tim.,  ii.,  19.  Paul  is 
speaking  about  apostasy  in  the  church,  and  how  some 
departed  from  the  faith,  "of  whom  is  Hymeneus  and 
Philetus,  who  concerning  the  truth  have  erred  5"  and 
then  he  says,  "  nevertheless,  the  foundation  of  God  stand- 
eth  sure" — that  does  not  shake,  regenerated  nature, 
that  stands  sure — "having  this  seal — "  then  come  the 
mottoes  on  the  seal, — "the  Lord  loioweth  them  that 
are  His."  That  is  the  first  motto,  and  the  second,  "  Let 
every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ  depart  from 
iniquity:"  divine  ownership  on  he  one  hand,  and  con- 
secration on  the  other.  Eemember  that  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  head  of  the  church,  was  the  first  to  be  sealed.  In 
John  vi.,  27,  we  read :  "  Labor  not  for  the  meat  which 
perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth  unto  ever- 
lasting life,  which  the  Son  of  Man  shall  give  unto  you ; 
for  Him  hath  God  the  Father  sealed."  When  did  he 
seal  Him  ?  On  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  when  He 
was  baptized,  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  and  rested 
on  Him  like  a  dove.  Hence  the  sealing  meant  own- 
ership and  CQngecration :    God  spoke  out  of  heaven, 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  227 

and  said:   "Jesus,   1113'   only   Son,"  ownership,   "I  am 
well  pleased  in  Him,"  consecration. 

Ederslieim,  the  best  writer  I  know  of,  describes  a 
beautiful  scene  in  connection  with  the  Passoyer.  Here 
is  the  flock,  and  a  person  selects  a  lamb.  He  has  to 
examine  it  very  carefully,  to  find  whether  there  is  any 
defect  in  it.  Then  he  puts  a  bit  of  wax  on  its  wool, 
and  stamps  it  with  a  seal,  and  then  fastens  it  to  a  stake 
and  puts  a  cloth  round  it.  To  put  that  lamb  back  into 
the  flock,  or  to  kill  it  for  familj^  use,  would  be  the  most 
awful  sacrilege  that  any  one  could  commit.  There  is 
a  type  of  Jesus  Christ.  "Him  hath  God  the  Father 
sealed,"  the  only  lamb  in  all  the  flock  that  was  with- 
out blemish,  and  without  spot ;  therefore  to  be  sacri- 
ficed. Take  that  beautiful  jjassage,  "He  was  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners."  He 
was  not  separate  from  sinners,  the  Eevised  Version 
puts  it  rightly ;  He  had  our  nature,  He  belonged  to 
our  great  flock  of  humanity,-  "holy  and  harmless, 
undefiled  and  separated  from  sinners."  Just  as  that 
lamb  was  taken  out  of  the  flock,  so  Jesus  Christ  was 
taken  out  of  the  flock  of  our  humanity  and  tied  to  the 
stake  of  the  cross  as  a  sacrifice  for  us.  My  heart  longs 
more  than  anything  else  to  be  tied  up  like  that  lamb 
and  all  that  I  have.  I  go  to  Christians  of  wealth  and 
ask  for  money,  and  they  say,  "My  money  is  so  tied 
up  that  I  cannot  spare  it."  I  want  to  see  the  church  of 
God  able  to  say :  "  My  money  is  so  tied  up  that  I  can- 
not spare  it  for  the  theatre  and  ballroom ;  it  is  tied  up 
for  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  under  consecration." 

You  have  a  further  idea  in  Eph.  i.,  13:  "In  whom 
also,  after  that  ye  believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  that 
holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our 
inheritance,  until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  pos- 


228  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

session."  It  is  wonderful  hoAV  the  language  of  the  Bible 
is  adapted  to  the  people  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 
Ephesus  was  a  great  lumber  mart;  and,  when  a  man 
had  come  down  in  the  spring,  and  selected  his  lumber, 
he  sealed  it  with  a  certain  mark,  and  would  leave  it 
perhaps  all  summer  mixed  up  Avith  the  other  lumber, 
but  every  one  who  had  bought  any  had  some  seal  on 
it.  Now,  writing  to  these  very  Ephesian  Christians, 
he  tells  them  that  they  are  sealed  till  the  redemption 
of  the  purchased  possession.  He  left  us  in  this  world, 
mixed  up  with  other  men.  "I  pray  not  that  Thou 
should'st  take  them  out  of  the  world."  One  day  He 
will  come  and  claim  his  property;  and  every  one  that 
has  a  seal  will  be  taken  up  to  meet  Him  in  the  air.  Eph. 
iv.,30:  "Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit,  Avhereby  ye  are 
sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption:"  that  is,  do  not 
grieve  the  Spirit,  the  seal  whereby  you  are  consecrated 
to  God.  It  would  be  like  removing  the  signature  to 
a  deed  conveying  property. 

^'' Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  by  whom  ye 
are  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption."  What  is  the 
seal  ?  "  If  any  man  hath  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he 
is  none  of  His."  That  applies  to  every  man  living. 
Considering  the  dead  it  is  said :  "  If  the  Spirit  of  Him 
that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell  in 
you,  He  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also 
quicken  your  mortal  bodies  by  His  Spirit  that  dwelleth 
in  you."  ''They  shall  be  mine,"  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
"in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels;  and  I  will 
spare  them,  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  servetli 
him."  Hurt  no  man  upon  whom  is  the  seal  of  God. 
That  seal  is  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Thirdly,  the  anointing.  In  II.  Cor.  i.,  21,  we  are  told: 
"He  which  'stablisheth  us  with  you  in  Christ,  and  hatii 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  229 

anointed  iis,  is  God/'  There  is  the  anointing-,  but  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  first  to  he  anointed,  for,  in  Acts  x.,  38, 
we  read:  "How  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  Avith  power  :  who  went  abont  doing- 
good;"  and  in  Luke  iv.,  17-18,  we  read  that  Jesus 
opened  the  book  and  read:  "The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me,  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preacli  the 
gospel  to  the  j^oor."  It  is  the  same  thing  under  a 
different  name  which  He  had  received  at  Jordan.  Here 
is  a  curious  fact,  in  the  wonderful  Psalm,  cxxxiii.: 
"  Behold,  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren 
to  dwell  together  in  unity !  It  is  like  the  precious 
ointment  upon  the  head,  that  ran  down  upon  the  beard, 
even  Aaron's  beard:  that  went  down  to  the  skirts  of 
his  garments."  How  good  and  pleasant  it  is  to  dwell 
together  in  unity,  not  brother  with  brother,  but  with 
the  head.  What  is  the  allusion  here?  In  Ex.  xxx. 
you  will  see  that  God  commanded  Moses  to  make  a  pre- 
cious ointment  called  a  holy  ointment,  and  men  were 
forbidden  to  make  anything  like  it.  Then  it  was  taken 
and  poured  upon  Aaron's  beard,  not  simply  a  drop,  but 
poured,  and  ran  down  till  the  whole  body  was  covered. 
Aaron  was  the  high  priest,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  our  great 
High  Priest.  He  was  anointed  on  His  head  for  us,  and 
the  anointing  which  is  from  God  flows  down  upon  all 
His  church,  even  as  the  precious  ointment  did  upon 
the  beard  and  garments  of  Aaron. 

Now  look  at  a  wonlerful  fact,  that  you  would  not 
believe  if  I  did  not  tell  you :  the  church  Avas  called  by 
the  same  name  as  Christ.  Christ  is  the  anointed  One, 
and  the  church  of  Christ  is  called  in  one  instance  the 
Christ:  L  Cor.,  xii.,  12-13:  "For  as  the  body  is  one," 
he  is  talking  about  the  church,  you  see,  "  and  hath  many 
members,  and  all  the  members  of  that  one  body,  being 


230  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

many,  aie  one  body ;  so  also  Km  o/wtgos  XpiSTos  so 
also  is  Christ.  For  by  one  spirit  we  are  all  bap- 
tized into  one  body ; "  as  the  head  is  called  the 
Christ,  o  XpisroG^  we  are  dwelling  together  in  unity 
with  Him,  and  the  ointment  upon  Him  is  poured  down 
upon  all  the  body,  and  therefore  the  whole  church  is 
called  the  Christ.  But,  w^ondrous  condescension; 
when  God  looks  upon  Him  and  then  ui:)on  us.  He  sees 
us  as  one  body. 

The  filling:  We  are  told,  Eph.  v.,  18:  "Be  filled 
with  the  Spirit."  It  is  very  easy,  you  see.  If  the 
Spirit  fills  this  room,  and  we  are  open  to  Him,  He  will 
fill  us.  You  put  an  empty  vessel  into  a  full  tank,  and 
it  cannot  help  being  filled,  and  I  challenge  any  Chris- 
tian to  empty  himself  of  sin  and  come  into  the  presence 
of  Christ  and  the  Spirit  and  the  Holy  Ghost  and  be 
filled.  Every  scientific  man  knows  that  winds  come 
towards  a  vacuum ;  that  is  what  makes  the  wind,  and, 
if  there  is  a  vacuum  in  your  heart,  the  Holy  Ghost  will 
3'ush  in  to  fill  it. 

This  is  a  wonderful  expression  in  John  i.,  IG:  "And 
of  His  fullness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  for 
grace."  They  say  that  means  one  degree  of  grace 
upon  another,  grace  upon  grace.  But  take  it  just  ex- 
actly as  it  stands,  "grace  for  grace;"  every  grace  that 
is  in  Him  reproduced  in  me ;  love  in  Him  becomes  love 
in  me;  holiness  in  Him  becomes  holiness  in  me;  puritj- 
in  Him  purity  in  me;  perfection  in  Him  perfection  in 
me.  "Having  predestined  us  to  be  conformed  to  the 
image  of  His  Son;"  Here  is  a  mold ;  I  ijour  melted 
iron  into  it  till  the  mold  is  completely  filled,  and  every 
line  and  feature,  every  indenture  and  ])rojection  that 
is  in  the  mold  will  be  reproduced  exactly  in  the  cast- 
ing.   So,  when  we  are  filled  with  the  Spirit,  who  com- 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  231 

municates  Jesus  Christ's  love  and  righteousness  to  us, 
there  will  be  grace  for  grace  ,*  every  grace  in  Him  re- 
produced in  us. 

That  is  just  an  outline  of  these  four  wondrous 
thoughts  that  bring  us  into  relationshii)  v^ith  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Man}'  of  3'ou  are  students  of  theology.  A  pro- 
fessor in  Gottingen,  that  university  that  used  to  be 
considered  the  centre  of  rationalism,  once  said :  "  Young 
men,  remember  that,  without  the  Holy  Ghost,  theology 
is  not  only  a  stone,  and  not  bread,  but  it  is  absolute 
poison."  Verily,  it  is  so,  theology  without  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  poison,  and  there  have  been  more  men  ruined 
by  handling  the  deep  things  of  God  without  the  Spirit 
of  God  to  help  them,  than  by  an}^  other  process  that 
I  am  aware  of.  The  light  is  made  for  the  eye ;  but,  if 
the  eye  is  diseased,  the  light  becomes  intolerably  pain- 
ful, it  torments  the  eye.  So  the  truth  is  made  for  the 
soul;  but,  if  our  soul  is  unsanctified,  that  which  ought 
to  come  to  it  as  its  own  natiA-e  air  hurts,  injures,  de- 
stroys.   Theology  without  the  Spirit  is  poison. 

Again,  many  of  you  are  going  to  preach  the  gospel. 
Remember  that  in  regard  to  theology  w^e  have  simply 
one  direction  as  to  how  we  are  to  know  the  truth. 
"Kow  we  have  receive;!  not  the  spirit  of  this  world, 
but  the  Spirit  of  God."  The  only  way  Ave  can  know  of 
God's  things  is  by  having  God's  spirit.  There  is  onh" 
one  qualification:  "they  preached  the  gospel  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  sent  doAvn  from  heaven."  Having  by  the 
grace  of  God  opportunities  for  the  best  training,  I 
would  to-day,  if  called  to  make  the  choice,  let  my  Greek, 
and  my  Latin,  and  my  philosophy,  and  my  ethics,  an<i 
my  church  history  go  by  the  board,  if  I  must  choose 
between  them  and  the  Holy  Ghost  in  preaching  the 
Gospel. 


232  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Thirdly,  iu  closing,  I  suppose  there  are  some  here  not 
disciples  of  Christ,  and  I  have  been  thinking  all  day 
long  what  an  opportunity  this  is.  We  have  had  great 
joy  and  delightful  festivities,  and  you  have  been  in  the 
midst  of  an  opportunity  which  some  of  you  will  never 
have  again.  And  the  w^ord  which  comes  to-day  in 
regard  to  the  Spirit  is  "Repent  and  be  baptized  and 
ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.-'  If  ye 
have  not  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  oh,  do  not  wait 
twenty-four  hours  without  fulfilling  the  divine  directions 
by  which  you  are  to  get  this  best  of  all  gifts. 

Bishop  Bakhvin  said :  There  have  been  three  dis- 
pensations: that  of  the  Father,  in  which  He  only  was 
revealed,  and  which  lasted  to  the  birth  of  Christ ;  that 
of  the  Son,  which  terminated  at  the  ascension ;  and 
thirdly,  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  significant  that 
the  third  person  of  the  Trinity  is  always  called  the  Holy 
Ghost;  because  of  the  wondrous  character  of  His  work, 
His  fruits,  and  His  gifts.  We  always  are  deeply 
impressed  with  a  feeling  of  the  solemnity  of  His 
presence,  and  can  never  speak  flippantly  of  that  being 
whom  God  has  called  holy. 

First  notice  Avheie  we  find  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
Bible.  He  is  said  to  be  present  at  the  creation,  and, 
when  our  first  parents  in  the  garden  of  Eden  held  such 
sweet  communion  with  God,  we  may  suppose  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  there.  There  would  have  been  three  results, 
if  sin  had  not  entered.  This  material  frame  would  have 
become  like  the  glorious  body  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  make  it  in  the  day  of  Christ's  second  coming. 
This  nature  which  is  now  i'XOea  eis  Qeov^  enmity  against 
God,  would  have  become  full  of  the  grace  and  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  this  spirit  which  has  become 
so  dark  that  it  is  called  the  substantive  thing  darkness, 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  23.3 

would  have  become  light  in  the  Lord.  Adam  sighed 
after  knowledge  :  the  temptation  was  in  this,  "  Ye  shall 
be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil."  At  the  time  of 
the  fall  the  Spirit  took  His  flight.  As  a  result,  this 
material  boch;,  hy  a  law  which  has  onh'  had  two  excep- 
tions, comes  down  to  the  dust.  There  is  the  law  of 
dissolution  within  us.  This  natural  heart  is  deceitful 
above  all  things,  and  desperately  TNicked,  and  the  mind, 
which  should  have  been  light  in  the  Lord,  is  darkness 
itself.  Man,  when  left  to  himself,  has  gone  down  to 
worship  the  beetles  and  snakes  that  crawl  and  creej) 
upon  the  deep  places  of  the  earth.  We  want  all  this 
brought  back  to  us  ;  this  body  made  what  God  would 
have  it  to  be,  this  soul  and  mind  and  spirit  made  as 
God  would  have  made  them,  and  as  God  did  make  them. 
There  were  two  great  hindrances  to  this  work.  The 
first  was  that  the  Holy  Ghost  could  never  come  back 
until  some  atonement  was  made  for  sin.  He  was  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  sin  was  that  awful  barrier  that  He 
could  not  pass  through ;  He  could  not  return  to  the 
earth  until  the  legal  impediment  of  sin  w^as  forever 
removed.  The  second  was  to  overcome  the  desperate, 
awful  depravity  of  the  human  heart,  which  is  opposed 
to  the  Spirit's  perfect  swa3^  When  Christ  came,  it  was 
to  open  the  gates  by  which  the  Holy  Ghost  might  come 
down  upon  the  earth  He  had  left  these  Aveary  years. 
When  we  come  to  the  cross  of  Clmst,  we  hear  our 
Lord  sa}^  "  It  is  finished."  It  was  finished  ,•  not  merely 
the  great  work  of  redemption,  but  the  pathway  for 
the  Holy  Spirit.  When  our  Lord  ascended  on  high, 
the  great  gift  that  He  obtained  was  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  so,  when  the  Spirit  came  on  the  Day  of 
Pentecost,  it  was  the  resulting  fruit  of  Christ's  sorrow 
and  death  upon  the  cross. 


234  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

To-day,  there  are  two  obstructions  to  the  Spirit,  which 
must  be  removed.  You  can  never  have  the  Spirit  until 
the  heart  is  first  cleansed  by  the  precious  blood  of 
Christ.  We  must  first  go  to  Calvary,  before  we  can 
realize  Pentecost.  The  Holy  Ghost  cannot  come  into 
the  sinner's  heart  and  say,  ''  Peace,"  when  there  is  no 
peace.  He  caimot  say,  ''  Thy  sins  are  blotted  out," 
till  Christ  has  blotted  them  out.  He  is  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  and  the  Spirit  of  truth  cannot  testify  that  it  is 
His  peace  until  Christ  has  made  peace.  Would  you  have 
light  and  joy  and  peace;  you  will  not  obtain  it  by 
ceaseless  activities,  by  philanthropy,  or  by  vows  and 
resolutions ;  it  is  just  there,  beneath  the  feet  of  the 
cross,  where  Christ's  precious  blood  takes  away  sin. 

Come  with  me  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  As  we  stand 
here,  we  hear  the  Holy  Ghost  say:  "B ahold  the  Lamb 
of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  and 
when  we  look  up,  we  hear  the  prophet  say:  "He  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions.  He  was  bruised  for 
our  iniquities,  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon 
Him,  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed."  Here  is 
God's  way  of  peace;  can  you  stand  this  blessed  morn- 
ing beneath  your  Lord's  awful  sacrifice,  and  take  it  to 
yourself  ?  Can  you  say  :  "  Lord,  this  is  my  heart,  I  do 
believe  that  thou  wast  wounded  for  m}^  transgressions 
and  bruised  for  my  iniquities,  that  the  chastisement  of 
my  peace  was  upon  Thee,  and  with  Thy  stripes  I  am 
healed.  Not  my  prayer,  my  garlands,  my  resolutions, 
but  that  substitutionary  death,  that  great  sin-offering 
of  God,  by  His  stripes  I  am  healed."  This  is  the  path- 
way of  the  Spirit,  and  when  you  grasp  this,  the  Spirit 
comes  and  makes  peace  and  assures  us  of  the  value 
of  that  death  with  which  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the 
Holy   Ghost  are  satisfied.    The  moment  you  believe, 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  235 

tlie  Spirit  will  come  calmly,  peacefully,  profoundly, 
and  He  will  testify  of  Christ  that  His  blood  has  cleansed 
you  from  all  your  sins. 

Among  those  that  have  believed,  and  that  are  rest- 
ing upon  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  there  is  a  certain 
unwillingness  to  be  subject  to  the  Spirit.  Andrew  Mur- 
ray beautifully'  points  out  that  to  be  subject  to  the 
Spirit  is  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit,  and  that,  wherever 
people  are  led  by  the  Spirit,  they  do  exactly  ^\'hat  the 
Holy  Ghost  wishes.  When  Christ  was  baptized.  He 
was  led  b}^  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness,  and  there  He 
was  tempted,  although  that  was  what  you  would  sup- 
pose would  be  the  last  thing  the  Spirit  would  do. 

The  ancient  city  of  Antioch  is  celebrated  first  for  con- 
taining the  mother  church  of  the  Gentile  Christians.  Sec- 
ondly, the  disciples  were  first  called  Christians  in  Anti- 
och. The  word  "  called  "  here  is  deeply  significant.  It 
is  not  the  ordinary  word  translated  "call,"  but  the 
word  xPVH-^''^^^^^-)  which  denotes  a  heavenly  vision :  the 
disciples  were  called  b}^  a  heavenly  vision  "  Christians." 
I  do  not  think  for  one  moment  that  that  glorious  term 
"  Christian  "  was  ever  given  to  the  disciples  by  the  good 
thoughts  of  the  disciples  themselves  and  suggestions 
of  friends,  or  at  the  suggestions  of  foes.  But 
there  was  something  deeply  significant  in  it  all.  The 
church  was  now  outside  of  Palestine,  it  had  commenced 
a  new  career,  it  was  to  go  out  into  the  great  world  in 
which  we  belong,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  gives  it  a  new 
name;  "the  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  at 
Antioch." 

What  does  that  lovely  word  "  Christian "  mean  ? 
The  Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament  is  identical  with 
the  Christ  of  the  New,  and  both  words  mean  "  The 
Anointed  One."    Christ  was  not  anointed  like  Aaron 


236  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

witli  the  holy  oil  of  the  sanctuary,  nor  like  the  Aaronic 
priests,  by  those  around  Him,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
at  His  baptism,  and  was  made  the  Christ,  as  you  and 
I  are  made  to  be  Christians  to-day  by  the  operation 
of  the  Holy  Grhost.  People  are  made  Christians  nom- 
inally by  their  i^rofessing  the  name  of  Christ,  but  God 
only  can  estimate  those  Christians  who  have  received 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  Christ  did,  by  the 
actual  descent  and' operation  of  the  eternal  Spirit. 

If  you  are  anointed  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  you  will 
present  two  features.  You  will  have  the  fruits  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  are  enumerated  in  the  epistle  to  the 
Colossians^  and  you  will  have  the  blessed  x^^P^^M^^^i  ^^ 
gifts  of  the  eternal  Spirit,  and  that,  first,  will  make  you 
rich  in  the  proof  of  that  faith,  and  second  will  make 
you  able  to  serve  acceptably.  Often  you  see  new  teach- 
ers in  the  Sunday  School  take  charge  of  little  classes. 
They  think  it  is  a  very  easy  thing  to  teach  a  class,  and 
what  is  the  result  ?  They  find  it  extremely  difficult, 
and  go  to  the  superintendent,  and  say,  "  Please  give 
us  another  class,"  and  the  superintendent  will  say, 
"  Why  do  you  want  to  give  up  that  class  ?  "  The  teacher 
will  say,  "  I  cannot  make  an^-thing  of  those  boys."  The 
truth  is  that  the  boys  cannot  make  anything  of  him.  He 
talks  to  them  as  if  they  were  half  a  dozen  bankers  or 
statesmen  or  lawyers,  and  they  don't  understand  it.  It 
is  very  difficult  to  do  anything  for  Christ,  unless  you 
have  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  you  would  acquire  the  power 
for  service,  leave  every  want  to  God,  and  remember, 
your  capacity  for  work  does  not  rest  in  3^our  vehe- 
mency  of  desire,  or  in  your  natural  faculties  and  various 
gifts,  but  in  that  fullness  which  the  Holy  Ghost  gives 
to  those  that  are  abiding  in  Christ.  I  cannot  exalt 
Christ  too  much,  because  I  know  that  the  oneness  of 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  237 

Christ  with  the  Spirit  is  such  that  it  is  by  the  operation 
of  His  blessed  power  that  we  are  fitted  for  work. 

A  man  must  be  filled  to  be  a  teacher.  If  he  is  only 
half  full,  he  cannot  overflow.  Where  can  w^e  get  full 
to  overflowing  ?  It  is  not  in  the  rush  of  the  great  meet 
ing,  or  in  the  might}'  impulse  of  the  moment,  but 
alone  with  God.  I  have  watched  a  cloud  over  the  bosom 
of  the  sea,  and  it  has  sunk  down  till  it  seemed  to  touch 
the  waves,  gathering  them  into  its  own  capacious  folds  ; 
and,  when  at  last  it  was  full,  it  rose  and  the  winds 
drifted  it  off  to  land,  carrying  it  over  the  thirsty  earth, 
and  at  last  God  brought  it  to  the  field  that  needed  it 
most,  and  it  gave  itself  out  in  refreshing  showers. 
Would  you  minister  to  the  soul  the  Word?  It  is  alone 
with  God  you  will  gather  strength,  power  and  fullness, 
and  will  come  out  of  that  consecrated  place  a  full  cloud 
to  water  the  weary  ones. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

SANCTIFIED   ZEAL. 

Address  by  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson— Etithusiasm  a  Divine  Passion— The  basis 
of  Enthusiasm  Sincerity,  in  the  twofold  aspect  of  Intellectual  Con- 
viction and  Heart  Persuasion— Self-Surrender  also  Necessary— Lach 
of  Religious  Enterprise  the  Great  Difficulty  in  the  Way  of  the 
Evangelization  of  the  World— Acceptance  of  their  Personal  Obli- 
gation by  the  Young  Men  of  this  Generation  Would  Publish  the 
Gospel  to  the  World  in  Ten  Years. 

My  subject  is  enthusiasm.  Some  think  the  word  "  en- 
thusiasm'^  is  from  two  Greek  words,  fV  and  ©fos^j  that  is? 
the  in  working  of  God.  It  is  at  least  a  magnificent  concep- 
tion. Enthusiasm  is  a  divine  passion.  It  is  finely  illus- 
trated in  such  men  as  Michael  Angelo,  when  he 
took  that  block  of  marble,  declaring  an  angel  wasj 
imprisoned  ,  in  it,  and  undertaking  to  release  the 
angel.  It  is  illustrated  in  Da  Vinci,  who  took  ten 
y/ears  to  paint  that  "Last  Supper."  He  was  so 
absorbed  often  for  days  that  he  took  not  a  morsel  of  food. 
He  would  sometimes  put  on  a  single  touch  of  color,  and 
then  leave  the  work  till  another  day.  It  is  illustrated^ 
by  Columbus,  when  he  walked  the  deck,  amid  a  mutinous 
crew%  and  besought  them  to  wait  three  days,  and,  if  land 
did  not  appear,  he  would  give  up  the  search.  Enthusi- 
asm is  also  illustrated  in  James  Watt,  studying  when 
a  boy  the  mysteries  of  steam.  It  is  illusti-ated  by  Agas- 
siz,  who  said:  "I  have  no  time  to  make  money:  I  am  on 
the  search  for  truth."  This  is  what  I  mean  by  enthus- 
iasm, only  giving  it  a  divine  direction,  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve personally  that  there  ever  was  a  man  who  w^as  able 
to  accomplish  much  for  God  or  man  'who  had  not  this 
divine  enthusiasm. 

338 


SANCTIFIED   ZEAL.  239 

The  basis  of  enthusiasm  is,  lirst,  sincerity.  Carlyle 
says  that  at  the  basis  of  all  heroic  character  lies  sincer- 
itj',  genuineness  of  character.  Sincerity  has  a  two-fold 
aspect,  first,  conviction,  second,  };ersuasion.  By  convic- 
tion I  mean  intellectual  conviction,  a  conviction  of  truth 
founded  upon  investigation.  We  sometimes  confound 
belief  with  faith.  Belief  is  an  intellectual  process;  as- 
sent to  a  proposition  containing  a  truth.  Faith  re- 
ceives a  truth  or  fact  embodied  in  a  person;  hence  we 
speaJv  of  believing  in  or  on  Jesus.  We  do  not  believe 
in  or  on  a  truth,  i.  e.,  of  it  as  a  truth,  but  we  be- 
lieve we  have  a  conviction  based  on  evidence. 

We  need,  first  of  all,  a  conviction  that  the  Bible  is 
the  Word  of  God  in  every  part.  I  do  not  believe  there 
can  be  any  proper  religious  enthusiasm  not  founded  on 
this  conviction.  What  w^ould  you  think  of  a  physician  not 
being  a  master  of  medicine  and  practice?  The  more  a 
man  is  master  of  his  profession  the  nearer  he  approaches 
to  success.  One  great  difficulty  with  ministers  is  that  they 
do  not  attain  such  mastery  of  the  Bible.  Even  an  uned- 
ucated man  may  attain  a  true  mastery  of  the  AA^ord  of 
God.  One  evidence  of  the  Bible  as  God's  Word  is  abso- 
lutely impregnable,  and  lies  on  the  very  surface  of  the 
Bible,  namely  the  attestation  from  prophecy.  In  the  Old 
Testament  are  fifteen  hundred  divine  prophecies,  333  of 
them  centering  about  the  person  of  Christ.  The  gap  of 
four  hundred  years  betw^een  the  two  Testaments  makes 
it  certain  the  Old  Testament  was  written  at  least  two 
hundred  years  before  Christ ;  therefore  there  could 
be  no  collusion.  If  the  Old  Testament  prophets  w^ere 
inspired,  while  making  these  distinct  predictions  of  Him, 
it  follow^s,  first,  that  the  Scriptures  are  the  inspired 
Word  of  God,  for  no  mere  man  could  have  foretold  so 
minutely  Christ's  character.  It  follows^  also,  that  Chilst 


240  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

is  the  Son  of  God,  because  it  is  impossible  such  proph- 
ecies should  support  any  pretender.  If  jou  master  that 
argument,  you  may,  Avithout  other  knowledge  of  the 
Bible,  have  an  unshaken  conviction  that  it  is  God's 
Word.  The  moment  a  man  is  shaken  with  regard  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible,  everything  else  is  gUiaken.  You 
might  as  well  expect  to  find  a  building  stand  without 
foundation  as  a  sound  faith  without  conviction  that  the 
Bible  is  God's  Word.  God  does  not  ask  you  to  believe 
anything  blindly.  Let  every  man  ask  a  reason  for  the 
faith  that  is  in  him. 

Secondly,  you  want  a  heart  persuasion,  begotten  of  ex- 
perience. Christ  says:  "Handle  me  and  see."  You 
must  come  in  contact  with  God  in  the  closet  and  in  the 
fellow^ship  of  daily  life,  to  have  this  basis  of  enthusiasm, 
an  experimental  persuasion  of  religious  truths.  I  am 
speaking  now,  not  to  ministers,  but  to  Christians. 

When  Morse,  the  inventor  of  the  telegraph,  was  in 
Washington,  seeking  an  appropriation  to  erect  a  line  be- 
tween Baltimore  and  Washing-ton,  a  committee  of  five 
was  appointed  to  consider  its  expediency.  They  w^ere 
equally  divided,  and  adjourned  foi*  dinner.  After  dinner 
the  chairman  said,  "Gentlemen,  I  am  now  prepared 
to  give  the  casting  vote  in  favor  of  this  appropriation, 
for  I  have  sent  and  received  a  message  over  the  wire." 
Mr.  Morse  had  succeeded  during  the  hour  of  recess  in 
convincing  the  chairman  by  experiment.  When  you  have 
sent  and  received  messages  from  heaven,  you  will  not 
doubt  Christianity.  God  says  :  "  How  can  two  walk  to- 
gether, unless  they,  be  agreed?  "  If  you  take  a  journey 
with  a  man,  you  must  agree  on  the  point  of  starting, 
your  destination,  and  the  way  from  one  to  the  other. 
That  implies  in  the  Christian  journey  a  personal  fellow- 
ship with  God.  All  starting  points  in  Scripture  are  from 


SANCTIFIED   ZEAL.  241 

the  blood,  and  the  goal  is  the  glory  of  God  in  the  highest 
sense,  to  make  Him  known  and  believed  by  others.  The 
way  is  that  of  continued  and  increasing  sanctification.  In 
this  intellectual  conviction  and  experimental  persuasion, 
you  have  the  foundation  for  true  enthusiasm. 

Next,  self -surrender,  by  which  I  mean  losing  your  will 
in  God's  will.  There  is  much  confusion  on  this  subject. 
Plenty  of  people  would  like  to  do  God's  v\^ill  in  their  own 
way;  just  as  children  are  willing  to  obey  their  parents, 
in  their  own  fashion.  Some  parents  never  have  trouble 
with  their  childi-en,  because  they  never  cross  their  wills. 
But  onoe  cross  the  will  of  the  child,  and  you  have 
trouble,  miless  there  is  self-surrender.  God  wants  man 
to  be  willing  to  do  God's  will  in  God's  time  and  by  God's 
method. 

My  notion  of  man's  work  is  that,  first  of  all,  it  is 
God's  w^ork,  which  stands  to  all  eternity.  God's  work  is 
like  an  immense  sphere  that  fills  the  universe,  with  a 
segment  of  that  sphere  over  against  you.  In  other 
words,  there  is  in  God's  work  a  portion  appropriated 
to  you,  and,  if  you  find  it  out  and  work  out  your  des- 
tiny, you  are  in  fellowship  with  God.  The  suggestion 
was  made  by  Bishop  Foss  that  the  glory  of  all  service 
is  fellowship  with  God.  In  I.  Cor.,  iii.,  9,  Col.  i.,  24, 
John  XV.,  26-27,  the  believer  is  represented  as  specif- 
ically co-operating  with  each  particular  person  of  the 
Godhead.  That  is  what  I  mean  by  self -surrender :  giv- 
ing up  my  will,  choice  and  my  power  for  God  to  use 
as  He  chooses. 

I  speak  last  and  most  emphatically  of  enterprise.  One 
great  difficulty  is  lack  of  enterprise  in  religious  things. 
There  is  no  lack  of  "push"  and  "dash"  in  secular  things. 
Merchants  will  meet  wild  beasts  and  every  other  kind 
of  danger,  for  the  sake  of  introducing  some  invention, 


'242  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

or  gathering  ivory,  peacock's  plumes  and  gold.  It  is 
said  to  day  that  the  missionary  goes  nowhere  as  pioneer 
without  finding  the  kerosene  lamp.  This  simple  inven- 
tion goes  faster  and  farther  than  the  lamp  of  the  gospel. 
There  is  enterprise  enough  but  it  is  not  consecrated. 
Jesus  Christ  said,  eighteen  centuries  ago,  ''Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  :  "  the  church  of  that  generation  took  up 
that  work,  and  Paul  could  say  before  he  died,  '"  The  gos- 
pel has  been  preached  to  every  creature  under  heaven." 
In  a  certain  sense,  that  w^as  true.  They  distributed  them- 
selves wisely  and  within  33  years  (which,  singularly 
enough,  is  the  period  covered  by  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles) the  gospel  was  preached  in  all  nations  of  the  known 
world  by  that  feeble  band  of  disci^  les,  that  probably 
did  not  number  more  than  a  thousand.  Yet  at  the  end 
of  the  nineteenth  century  we  have  covered  only  a  tenth 
of  the  earth.  What  is  the  matter?  We  have  not  enough 
enterprise.  Let  there  be  secular  spirit,  secular  capital 
and  secular  gain  back  of  it,  and  the  gospel  would  be 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  everyone  in  ten  years.  If 
God  should  touch  the  hearts  of  the  young  generation, 
who  have  not  family,  business  or  any  other  ties  yet,  we 
would  give  the  gospel  to  the  entire  world  before  the 
end  of  the  century. 

There  was  a  decree  issued  by  Ahasuerus  (recorded  in 
Esther)  with  regard  to  the  destruction  of  the  Jews  in 
all  the  provinces  of  his  empire.  That  ancient  Persian 
empire  extended  two  thousand  miles  from  west  to  east, 
and  about  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  north  to  south. 
It  contained  127  provinces,  in  which  different  languages 
were  spoken.  Without  printing  presses,  Avith  no  method 
of  duplicating  except  by  manual  transcription,  without 
any  method  of  trnnsmitting  except  by  camels  and  drom- 
edaries, in  less  than  nine  months  that  decree  of  life  was 


SANCTIFIED    ZEAL.  243 

actually  promulgated  to  everyone  in  these  provinces. 
That  Persian  empire  on  the  map  of  the  world  covers  one- 
thirteenth  of  the  territory  to  be  reached  by  the  gospel 
to-day.  If,  without  any  of  the  methods  with  which  we 
now  carry  on  such  work  Ahasuerus  could  in  nine  months 
distribute  that  decree,  what  reason  is  there  why  thirty 
million  Christians  should  not  carry  this  gospel  to  thir- 
teen times  as  large  a  territory  in  thirteen  times  as  many 
months  ?  With  no  vain  and  unintelligent  enthusiasm,  I 
suggest  that  the  young  men  of  this  generation  rise  in 
their  might  and  solemnly  covenant  with  God  that,  while 
they  live,  they  will  see  the  gospel  carried  to  every  inhab- 
itant. 

This  will  never  be  done  till  you  accept  your  individual 
obligation.  The  terms  "clergy"  and  "laity"  have  no 
Scriptural  foundation.  They  v\'ere  the  inventions  of 
the  devil  in  the  Middle  Ages.  True  the  priests  and  the 
people  were  thus  divided  in  Old  Testament  times.  There 
was  a  rigid  separating  barrier,  which  no  man  dared 
overstep,  but  in  the  New  Testament,  that  line  dis- 
appears. The  doctrine  of  the  Xew  Testament  is  the 
essential  equality  of  all  believers.  Nevertheless  that 
phrase  "division  of  labor"  remains  one  of  the  most  vi- 
cious and  misleading  phrases  ever  palmed-off  on  the 
Christian  church  by  the  devil.  It  implies  that  the  minis- 
ters are  to  seek  souls,  and  the  laity  are  to  support  the 
ministers.  If  you  are  a  believer,  you  are  a  preacher  and 
minister,  and  it  is  just  as  much  your  business  to  look  to 
souls  and  in  your  way  preach  the  gospel,  as  it  is  mine. 
Six  thousand  men  and  women  can  never  reach  a  thous- 
and million  human  beings.  When  you  feel  that  the  work 
rests  on  you,  that  such  a  portion  of  the  human  race  is  set 
over  against  you  to  be  readied  with  the  gospel,  we  shall 
not  have  idle  believers,  men  considering  what  position 


244  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

is  to  be  the  most  lucrative,  but  godly  men  asking  them- 
selves, ^'How  can  I  go  to  work  to  reach  the  greatest 
number  of  souls  with  the  gospel  diiring  the  period  of  my 
natural  life  ?"  Seven  men  in  Germany  in  25  years  estab- 
lished 75  congregations,  made  7,000  converts,  preached 
the  gospel  in  726  stations  and  out-stations,  besides  the 
churches,  and  had  reached  fifty  millions  of  people — as 
many  as'  now  inhabit  the  valley  of  the  Congo,  as  many  as 
inhabited  the  United  States  in  1870.  With  250  men  like 
them,  within  ten  years  we  will  give  the  gospel  to  the 
thousand  millions  of  the  human  race.  We  want  this  con- 
secrated endeavor,  that  lays  itself  on  the  altar  without 
reservation.  I  pray  God  will  give  me  the  privilege  of 
living  to  see  the  young  men  of  this  generation  taking 
up  this  work  of  spreading  the  gospel  as  it  has  never  yet 
been  taken  up. 

Dr.  Guinness  tells  of  a  tract  in  the  Soudan  district 
four  thousand  miles  long  by  one  thousand  miles  wide, 
containing  ninety  million  people,  without  a  single  mis- 
sionary ;  that  this  territory  has  been  explored,  and  that 
it  is  a  good  country,  fairly  healthy.  Liberia  would  be 
a  proper  place  for  a  basis  of  supplies,  and  a  line  of 
stations  might  be  establislied  east,  penetrating  the 
country.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Colonization  So- 
ciety they  have  promised  to  assume  the  expenses  of 
transporting  missionaries  thither.  He  says  Dr.  Guinness 
is  looking  for  pioneers,  and  some  of  the  young  men 
at  the  west  are  considerably  stirred  up  to  the  import- 
ance of  the  immediate  occasion  and  a  number  have 
already  volunteered  their  services.  This  is  one  field 
where  these  people  are  interested  to  work  this  up. 

I  do  not  care  specifically  whether  you  turn  your  atten- 
tion to  the  ministry  or  not.  God  has  a  call  for  sanctified 
carpenters,  and  plumbers,  and  lawyers,  and  doctors.  En- 


SANCTIFIED   ZEAL.  245 

thusiasm  lies  at  the  bottom  of  it.  We  need  in  these 
days  carpenters  that  will  build  with  good  seasoned  tim- 
ber, and  shoemakers  that  will  have  their  work  done 
when  they  say  they  will,  and  give  you  good  material  in- 
stead of  shoddy.  If  you,  with  your  knowledge  and  enter- 
prise in  secular  matters,  will  do  what  God  calls  you  to 
do,  and  give  yourselves  in  any  sphere  of  life  to  reaching 
the  souls  you  can  reach  with  the  gospel,  it  may  be  your 
privilege  to  live  long  enough  to  see  every  hill  and  valley 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  covered  with  the  gospel. 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

CHRISTIAN  SERVICE. 

Sermon  by  Dr.  M.  D.  Hoge— Service  the  only  Greatness  worthy  the 
Name— Modern  Revolt  against  Autliority— All  Men  Subject  to  Physi- 
cal and  Moral  Laws— Honored  Servants  of  God  Mentioned  in  the 
Bible— Clirist  the  Minister— Origin  of  all  Philanthropy- Service 
Revolutionizes  Society— The  Church  Organized  for  Warfare  against 
Sin— Little  Opportunities- Consecration  and  Obedience  the  Test  of 
Conversion. 

In  Mark  x.,  42-45,  we  read:  "Jesus  called  them  to  Hiin 
and  saitli  unto  tliem,  Ye  know  tliat  thej  which  are  ac- 
counted to  rule  over  tht  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  OA^er 
them ;  and  their  great  ones  exercise  authority  upon 
them ;  But  so  shall  it  not  be  among  you  :  but  whosoever 
will  be  great  among  you  shall  be  your  minister:  And 
whosoever  of  you  will  be  the  chief estj,  shall  be  servant 
of  all.  For  even  the  Son  of  Man  caine,  not  to  be  minis- 
tered unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom 
for  many." 

The  mere  announcement  of  a  text  makes  different 
impressions  upon  different  people  in  the  same  congre- 
gation. On  a  memorable  occasion  in  our  Lord's  life, 
He  said:  "If  any  man  serve  me,  him  Avill  my  Father 
honor."  "Father,  glorify  thy  name."  And  there  came 
a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  "I  have  both  glorified  it, 
and  will  glorify  it  again."  And  some  of  the  people  said 
it  thundered,,  and  others  said,  "An  angel  spoke  to  him." 
What  a  difference  between  an  inarticulate  roll  of 
thunder  and  the  voice  of  an  angel.  In  this  text  to-day 
may  we  hear  more  than  an  angel's  voice,  even  that  of 
the  Lord  of  angels,  proclaiming  His  ministry  of  mercy 
to  men,  and  summoning  us  to  seek  the  only  greatness 

246 


CHRISTIAN   SERVICE.  247 

worth  the  name,  the  greatness  that  comes  from  disinter- 
ested, loving  service,  rendered  to  all  whom  we  can  in- 
flnence,  for  His  dear  sake  who  gave  the  command  and 
illnstrated  it  by  His  own  beautiful  life. 

In  vivid  contrast  with  the  spirit  enjoined  in  this  text 
was  the  rapacious,  despotic  rule  of  the  Roman  procon- 
sular governors  who  exercised  their  authorit}^  in  Pales- 
tine ;  men  that  came  from  Eome  to  enrich  themselves 
w^ith  the  spoils  of  a  conquered  province.  We  now  have 
a  similar  case  where  men  enter  high  official  situations 
ver}'  poor,  and  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to 
enrich  themselves.  We  have  another  illustration  in 
the  case  of  the  money  kings,  who,  to  accomplish  their 
selfish  purposes  or  to  humiliate  a  rival,  wreck  the  for- 
tunes and  ruin  the  commerce  of  a  continent,  destroy 
the  honest  earnings  of  thousands  of  wortliA^  men,  and 
make  worthless  the  little  investments  of  widows  and 
orphans. 

''It  shall  not  be  so,"  says  our  Lord,  ''among  you.  Ye 
have  a  different  model  and  a  different  motive."  The 
disciples  needed  this  caution,  because  there  had  just 
been  a  most  unseeml}^  strife  among  them.  We  would 
not  have  expected  it  there :  a  dispute  betw^een  two  of 
them,  and  the  request  made  by  them :  "Lord,  grant 
that  the  one  of  us  may  sit  on  Thy  right  hand,  and  the 
other  on  Thy  left,  when  Thou  comest  in  Thy  glory." 
The  text  contains  Christ's  tender  rebuke.  He  silenced 
tlieir  shameful  dispute,,  and  shamed  them  by  His  own 
august  example  :  ''Ye  call  me  Master,  and  Lord,  and 
ye  do  well,  for  so  I  am,  but  I  am  among  you  as  one  that 
serveth." 

Such  an  announcement  w^ell  became  Him  w^e  call 
the  Son  of  Man,  but  this  is  not  the  spirit  of  the  un- 
regenerate  sons  of  men,  who  have  never  learned  to  ap- 


248  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

predate  the  divine  object  of  the  apostolic  injunction : 
''Let  this  same  mind  be  in  you  which  was  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  made  Himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took 
upon  Him  the  form  of  a  servant."  Men  of  the  w^orld 
prefer  to  say,  "I  stand  among  you  as  one  that  ruleth, 
and  not  as  one  that  serves  :  I  am  indei)endent  of  author- 
ity." Man  loves  to  stand  erect,  self-sustained  and  self- 
supported,  to  accomplish  his  purposes  by  his  own  un- 
aided powers,  and  there  is  much  in  the  world  to  encour- 
age this  spirit.  This  world  is  full  of  despotism,  and  in 
the  revolt  against  arbitrary  authority,  in  the  love  of 
liberty  which  fills  the  public  heart,  there  is  a  natural 
revolt  against  submission  to  the  authority  of  a  superior, 
and  we  don't  have  this  association  with  the  words  mas- 
ter and  servant.  This  recoil  from  service,  this  chaf- 
ing under  the  idea  of  restraint,  human  and  divine,  is 
founded  in  a  total  misapprehension  of  man's  relation  to 
God  and  to  his  fellow-men.  If  God  is  our  creator,  the 
question  is  settled  at  once.  There  can  be  but  one  su- 
preme ,authority  in  the  universe.  We  are  limited  by 
the  conditions  that  surround  us.  Our  life  itself  is  only 
an  emanation.  No  man  w  as  consulted  as  to  whether  he 
would  be  born  or  not.  No  man  can  choose  where  he  will 
see  the  light  or  where  he  will  close  his  eyes,  at  home 
or  abroad  or  at  sea.  Our  ignorance  of  all  futurity 
makes  us  servants,  not  masters^  of  the  situation.  I 
know  nothing  more  humiliating  than  the  fact  that  no 
one  knows  what  will  happen  the  next  minute.  A  tele- 
gram may  come  during  this  service  that  will  change  the 
whole  future  of  some  man's  life.  We  cannot  resist  what 
is  inevitably  approaching  in  the  impenetrable  darkness. 
Again,  we  are  oliliged  to  be  servants  and  not  rulers, 
because  of  the  physical  laws  which  environ  us.  We 
cannot  change  them,  we  cannot  suspend  them.    Our 


CHRISTIAN   SERVICE.  249 

only  safet}^  consists  in  submission  to  immutable  law. 
Eesistance  to  law  is  ruin.  Let  a  man  make  the  experi- 
ment with  any  physical  laAv,  gravitation,  for  example. 
He  may  wish  to  soar  to  the  mountain  top,  but  gravita- 
tion holds  him  down.  When  falling  from  a  great 
height,  he  may  wish  to  suspend  that  laAV,  but  gravita- 
tion is  his  destruction.  It  is  through  submission  to 
natural  law  that  all  the  universe  maintains  its  harmony. 
For  that  reason  waters  seek  their  level,  showers  fall 
and  dews  descend,  and  the  great  tides  throb  through  the 
obscurity  of  the  deep.  "Servants  all,"  is  written 
throughout  the  physical  universe. 

We  are  as  much  bound  by  moral  law.  Eevolt  against 
moral  law  means  anarchy  and  ruin.  Safety  and  hap- 
piness come  from  submission,  and  are  twin  sisters  that 
boAv  together  at  the  feet  of  law  and  call  her  mother. 
It  is  impossible,  therefore,  for  us  to  have  that  fancied 
independence  which  men  so  often  crave. 

With  moral  responsibility,  we  enter  upon  another 
department  of  this  subject.  Service  is  the  patent  of 
true  nobility.  The  men  honored  with  the  name  of 
servants  have  been  the  regnant  men  of  the  race  in  the 
state,  in  every  school  of  true  philosoi^hy,  in  the  church  of 
God.  The  great  masters  of  thought  and  those  in  the 
realm  of  the  moral  and  spiritual,  are  the  men  that  have 
rendered  the  greatest  service.  When  this  brother 
(Eev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  Jr.,)  commenced  the  prayer  this 
morning,  I  recognized  the  tones  of  his  father's  voice, 
and  I  call  him  one  of  the  regnant  men  of  the  world,  be- 
cause he  serves.  It  was  so  from  the  beginning;  and, 
in  the  Book  that  records  the  kingly  men  of  the  race, 
we  find  such  records  as  Abraham,  "the  servant.'' 
What,  that  grand  figure  towering  in  the  misty  past? 
"The  servant  of  the  Lord."    Moses,  scores  of  times, 


250  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

"the  servant  of  the  Lord."  Elijah,  "the  God  before 
whom  I  stand  and  whom  I  serve."  Daniel,  "the  servant 
of  the  most  High  God."  David,  "Truly,  O  Lord,  I  am 
Thy  servant  and  the  son  of  Thine  handmaid."  God 
grant  the  son  of  every  pious  woman  this  day  may  be 
able  to  say,  "I  am  Thy  servant,  O  Lord,  because  I  am 
the  son  of  Thine  handmaid."  Peter  begins  all  his 
epistles  as  "the  servant  of  Jesus  Christ."  Paul,  "the 
slave  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Now  I  bid  all  these  to  stand  aside,  because  a  greater 
comes  upon  the  stage.  Let  the  patriarch,  the  apostle 
and  the  prophet  vanish,  for  there  stands  one  greater 
than  any,  who  says,  "I  am  among  you  as  one  that  serv- 
eth.  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  manj^" 
Bretlu^en,  where  did  he  get  that  name.  Son  of  Man  ? 
The  disciples  did  not  give  it  to  him,  nor  the  inspired 
writers.  No  human  lips  conferred  that  title  upon  Him. 
He  took  it  Himself.  It  was  never  used  except  by  Him- 
self, with  one  memorable  exception.  While  they  were 
stoning  Stephen  to  death,  he  looked  up  and  caught  a 
glimi)se  of  the  glorified  Jesus  standing  and  looking 
down  upon  him,  and  God's  glory  smote  him  on  the  face, 
and  he  said:  "I  see  the  Son  of  Man."  Why  did  He 
call  Himself  the  Son  of  Man  ?  Because  He  represented 
our  race;  because  He  wanted  to  be  our  elder  brother; 
because,  as  God  the  Spirit  could  not  bleed  upon  the 
cross  and  die,  He  took  upon  Himself  our  Humanity  [sin 
excepted),  that  He  might  suffer  for  us,  feel  for  us,  sym- 
pathize with  us,  love  us,  die  for  us.  O  Son  of  Man  illus- 
trating what  our  humanity  was  before  sin  tainted  it, 
illustrating  what  our  humanity  shall  be  when  grace  shall 
purify  and  glory  ennoble  it,  what  do  we  not  owe  to  Thee, 
for  Thy  condescending  to  live  and  abide  unto  death, 


CHRISTIAN  SERVICE.  251 

even  the  death  of  the  cross.  '^The  Sou  of  Man  came, 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  and  to  give 
His  life  a  ransom  for  man3\" 

What  could  the  world  give  Christ  that  was  not  al- 
readj'  His  ?  What  could  it  add  to  the  position  of  one 
of  whom  it  was  said,  "By  Him  were  all  things  made, 
and  without  Him  was  not  anything  made  that  was 
made  ?"  What  could  the  w^orld  add  to  the  glory  of 
Him  who  had  been  by  the  Father  seated  at  His  own 
right  hand,  far  above  principalities,  and  powers,  and 
thrones,  and  dominions,  with  a  name  above  every  name? 
There  was  but  one  new  glory  Christ  could  acquire, 
that  of  service  and  sacrifice.  All  crowns  were  already 
His,  save  one,  and  that  was  a  crown  of  thorns.  "The 
Son  of  Man  came,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister."  His  whole  life  was  a  ministry  of  love,  of 
instruction  to  the  ignorant,  pardon  to  the  penitent, 
healing  to  the  sick,  of  comfort  to  the  sorrowing ;  and 
we  have  an  epitome  of  His  life  in  those  sweet  little 
words,  "He  went  about  doing  good."  It  was  a  life 
clothed  in  the  lowest  garb  of  humility  and  love,  of 
which  we  have  a  memorable  illustration  when  he  deliv- 
ered His  valedictory.  In  that  tender  moment  when  He 
was  parting  with  His  disciples,  we  read  that  Jesus, 
knowing  that  the  Father  had  delivered  all  things  into 
His  hands,  and  that  He  came  from  God  and  that  He 
went  to  God,  rising,  took  the  towel,  girded  Himself, 
poured  water  into  a  basin  and  began  to  wash  His 
disciples'  feet.  Who  will  call  service  derogatory  to  the 
dignity  of  mankind,  when  the  glory  of  the  Godliead 
derived  new  lustre  from  the  humblest  service  ?  Thus 
Christ,  shrinking  from  no  service,  however  menial, 
whereby  humanity  should  be  purified,  enlightened  and 
ennobled,  gave  a  new  ideal  to  the  world.    A  new  form  of 


252  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

beauty  bursts  like  a  star  from  the  very  heaveus,  and 
rises  like  a  glory  on  the  vision  of  mankind. 

Moreover,  these  are  creative  words :  "I  come  not  to 
be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister;"  for  from  them 
have  sprung  all  the  philanthropy,  all  the  enterprises 
which  God's  people  have  devised  for  carrying  on  His 
work  in  the  world. 

Not  only  so,  but  these  words  have  reconstructed 
human  opinion.  They  have  given  the  world  a  new 
balance  in  which  to  weigh  i^eople,  a  new  standard  by 
which  to  estimate  the  height  of  a  man.  They  have  revo- 
lutionized public  sentiment,  as  to  what  constitutes 
true  greatness. 

One  hundred  years  iago  a  discourse  was  published, 
entitled,  "  The  Evil  things  that  Pass  Under  Sj^ecious 
Names."  About  two  hundred  years  ago,  a  learned  doc- 
tor of  the  English  church  delivered  a  discourse  which 
he  entitled,  "  The  Fatal  Force  and  Mastery  of  Words." 
The  world  is  befooled  yet  by  the  fatal  force  and  mastery 
of  words,  and  among  these  I  do  not  know  any  so  abused 
as  the  words  ^'greatness"  and  "glorj^"  Our  Lord 
threw  out  this  little  leaven  into  the  great  mass  of  hu- 
manity. It  has  been  working  slowly,  but  now  we  have 
come  to  the  time  when  people  do  not  estimate  men,  ac- 
cording to  their  hereditary  rank  (though  I  have  no  ob- 
jection to  hereditary  rank  in  the  right  place),  social 
standing,  wealth  or  culture ;  but  the  question  that  be- 
gins to  be  asked  of  every  man  is.  In  what  channel  of 
benevolence  is  he  throwing  his  life  ?  What  has  he  done 
for  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  for  tlfe  church,  for 
the  Commonwealth?  I  trust  the  day  is  at  hand  when 
every  man  who  seeks  the  suffrages  of  the  public  will  be 
confronted  with  these  questions :  What  has  h.e  done 
to  maintain  truth  and  righteousness,  and  public  credit, 


OHKISTIAN   SEEVICE.  253 

power  and  integrity  ?  What  has  he  done  in  the  way 
of  service  and  sacrifice  to  entitle  him  to  the  suffrages 
of  the  public  ?  Therefore  these  words  of  Christ  recon- 
struct human  society.  It  is  a  great  thing  for  a 
teacher  to  give  the  >\'orld  an  absolutely  new  standard 
by  which  to  measure  men,  and  a  new  balance  in  which 
to  weigh  them. 

For  what  purpose  was  the  Church  of  God  organized? 
A  great  many  glorify  the  church  with  the  idea  that  it 
was  organized  for  its  own  sake.  The  church  is  a  defi- 
nitely appointed  organization  to  accomplish  a  defi- 
nitely a])pointed  end,  nothing  but  God's  instrument 
for  the  advancement  of  His  glory  in  the  world.  It  is  of 
no  use,  except  it  accomplishes  that  purpose.  The 
church  was  not  organized  to  give  men  a  pleasant,  quiet 
place  like  this,  in  which  to  spend  a  Sunday,  when  all 
the  ordinary  business  of  life  is  suspended.  It  was  not 
organized  for  the  people  to  be  entertained  by  the  logic 
and  rhetoric  of  the  preacher.  My  heart  went  with  that 
petition  (referring  to  the  opening  prayer)  which  said, 
''Speak,  Lord,  Thy  servant  heareth."  Let  the  Lord 
speak.  The  church  was  not  organized  even  to  train 
man  and  develop  him  into  the  stature  of  the  perfect 
man  in  Christ  Jesus.  That  is  a  great  thing  to  accom- 
plish, but  even  that  is  not  the  divine  purpose.  The  true 
end  is  not  reached  till  that  man  trains  himself  into  the 
image  of  Christ,  all  his  moral  and  spiritual  powers 
and  all  his  resources  contributing  to  the  warfare  that  is 
.going  on  against  the  powers  of  darkness  in  the  world. 
It  is  for  that  reason  the  church  is  organized  and  sent 
into  the  world,  that  it  may  wage  a  constant  warfare 
against  all  false  kings,  till  He  whose  right  it  is  to  reign 
shall  reign. 


254  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

When  I  went  up  the  hill  yesterday  afternoon,  the 
Princeton  brother  was  reading  a  chapter  from  Isaiah 
that  has  always  impressed  me,  because  it  begins  so 
grandly.  ''In  the  year  that  King  Uzziah  died,  I  saw 
the  Lord  in  His  Temple,  high  and  lifted  up."  Kings 
died,  their  thrones  became  vacant,  God  lives.  "And 
a  voice  was  heard.  Whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will 
go  forth  ?  And  the  answer  came,  Here  am  I,  Lord, 
send  me."  This  call  did  not  come  to  Isaiali  and  the 
great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  alone.  It  comes  to  every 
man  that  can  hear,  that  is  given  a  heart  to  feel,  that 
has  a  work,  big  or  little,  to  do  in  the  world,  and  perhaps 
the  most  important  lesson  here  is  that  God  descends 
to  use  the  little  things.  It  is  not  the  great  opportunities 
or  gifts,  but  such  opportunities  and  such  gifts  as  we 
have,  that  give  the  truth  its  power,  when  we  use  them 
all  together.  I  am  glad  so  many  are  going  on  foreign 
mission  work,  but  it  is  not  necessary,  before  we  can  do 
good,  to  go  to  those  frozen  zones  where  polar  stonns 
sweep  over  the  wintry  landscape.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
go  to  those  regions  where  equatorial  suns  send  down  their 
glowing  heat,  to  find  the  heathen.  The  worst  heathen 
I  have  ever  seen  were  men  that  lived  within  a  few 
squares  of  me,  who  wore  our  dress  and  spoke  our  lan- 
guage, and  who  had  all  the  vices  of  heathen,  with  those 
of  the  civilization  of  to-day.  In  the  mission  school  in 
my  city,  where  every  Sunday  we  have  gathered  these 
people  hitherto  neglected,  I  have  had  m}^  richest  re- 
ward in  preaching  Christ. 

This  is  the  consecration  of  which  I  speak,  and  this 
obedience  to  the  command  of  Christ  is  the  only  proof  I 
know  of  conversion.  I  do  not  object  to  people's  hav- 
ing raptures,  going  into  seraphic  moods  now  and  then, 
but,  "If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments/'  that  is 


CHRISTIAN   SERVICE.  255 

an  every  da}'^,  practical,  common  sense  test  that  every- 
one can  apply  to  himself.  "Give  me  a  Proof  of  Your 
Love  "  was  the  title  of  one  of  Mr.  Spurgeon's  sermons  in 
the  Tabernacle,  that  I  recollect  ver^^  well.  Christ  ex- 
pects a  proof  of  i)rofessed  love.  That  proof  is  obedience 
and  service,  becanse  obedience  and  service  are  not  only 
the  test  of  trne  love,  but  the  bond  of  true  fellowship. 
I  do  not  believe  that  we  ever  get  into  felloAVship  with 
Christ  till  we  learn  to  work  for  Him  and  to  delight  in  the 
work.  Those  who  recognize  their  obligation,  and  work 
faithfully,  and  lovingly,  and  perseveringly,  are  the  men 
that  are  going  to  build  up  characters  that  will  stand  the 
test  of  that  trial.  The  young  Princeton  speaker  yester- 
day afternoon  said  that  when  young  men  got  into  the 
mission  fields  they  would  find  great  trials  and  tempta- 
tions, and  that,  unless  they  had  a  solid  foundation 
upon  which  they  could  build,  they  would  be  very  apt 
to  be  shaken  and  perhaps  thrown  into  despair.  But 
there  is  no  danger  of  that,  when  we  come  into  this  per- 
sonal fellowship  with  Christ,  and  when  consecration 
to  Christ's  work  is  our  meat  and  drink,  our  invigorati(m 
and  our  joy.  That  is  why  we  are  building  up  a  charac- 
ter that  will  stand  the  test  of  time  and  of  the  last  great 
day. 

AYith  obedience  is  love,  a  new  stone  in  that  si)iritual 
temple  that  God  is  erecting,  in  which  the  Holy  Cxhost 
will  dwell.  The  foundations  of  that  temple  are  faith. 
Per.3eveiancc  is  the  engineer  that  adds  tier  upon  tier 
and  stair  upon  stair.  Brotherly  love  is  the  cement  that 
binds  all  the  stones  together.  Memory  comes  and  hangs 
the  walls  with  tender  pictures  of  the  past.  Joy  comes 
and  fills  every  apartment  with  flowers  plucked  from 
the  paradise  of  God.  Love  C(mies  and  fills  the  halls 
with  music,  and  at  last  h-^pe  comes  and  throws  over 


25(;  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

the  edifice  a  beautiful  dome,  through  which  aspiration 
looks  up  and  longs  for  heaven.  But  even  then,  when 
man  enters  that  edifice,  so  divine,  it  is  only  to  clothe 
him  for  better,  nobler  service,  here  upon  earth. 

The  story  is  often  told  of  the  young  man  coming  back 
from  California,  whose  vessel  went  on  a  rock  about  a 
furlong  from  shore.  A  little  girl  came  to  him  and  said, 
^Tlease,  sir,  won't  you  save  me  V'  He  unbuckled  the 
belt  in  which  his  gold  w^as  fastened  around  his  waist, 
and  plunged  into  the  sea  with  her.  He  had  almost 
reached  the  shore,  when  a  great  billow  struck  him  and 
dashed  him  senseless  on  the  sand.  When  he  opened  his 
eyes,  the  first  thing  that  he  saw  was  the  face  of  that 
dear  little  girl,  looking  down  on  him  with  love  and  joy. 
So  it  will  be  with  us,  after  j^assing  through  earth's 
tempests,  if  by  God's  grace  we  reach  the  shining  shore, 
and  see  there  some  little  face  that  we  had  helped  to  win, 
that  discovery  will  add  a  new^  beam  to  heaven's  bright- 
ness, and  a  new  thrill  to  heaven's  pleasure.  I  suj)- 
pose  that  Avas  one  reason  why  I  was  so  impressed  with 
the  hymn  that  you  sang,  "  Jesus,  the  Pilot."  Jesus  is  the 
Pilot  who  bears  us  safely  through  these  stormy  waters; 
and  if  we  reach  the  shining  shore  and  are  surrounded  by 
those  who  recognize  us  as  God's  instrument  in  their 
salvation,  it  will  be  a  kind  of  multiplied  heaven  to  us. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY. 

As  reqtuired  by  Our  Times— Sermon  by  Bishop  C.  D.  Foss— Field  of 
Modern  Pulpit— Special  Difficulties  To-day— Need  of  a  Learned, 
not  an  Intellectual  :Minis(:ry— How  the  Minister  Should  Study- 
Danger  of  Aflectation— A  Consecrated  Ministry— A  Soul-saving 
Ministry— Revivals  Essential  to  the  Church's  Welfare— Ministry  for 
Transformation  of  Society— PrerecLUisites  for  These  Results— What 
is  a  Call  ? 

Suppose  there  had  been  oifered  to  Demosthenes  the 
opportunities  of  address  and  special  service  to  men 
granted  in  later  times  to  the  Christian  ministry.  Suppose 
he  had  been  told  that  in  later  times  an  order  of  men 
would  rise,  wdth  a  special  diyine  calling,  with  a  divinely 
inspired  book,  containing  in  short  statements  all  human 
duty  and  destiny,  and  with  one  day  in  seven  set  apart 
by  divine  authority,  w^hen  the  wheels  of  business  should 
stand  still,  to  give  these  men  a  chance  to  arrest  the  ear  of 
the  world  on  topics  of  the  profoundest  interest  to  all 
men.  What  would  he  have  predicted  concerning  the 
effect  of  an  orator  in  a  field  so  immeasurably  superior 
to  his  ow^n  ?  "  Surely,"  he  would  have  said,  "  this 
favored  and  divinely  called  and  anointed  class  of  men 
will  by  their  influence  abate  all  the  evils  of  society, 
and  transform  the  whole  face  of  the  earth."  Alas, 
for  the  vanity  of  any  such  presupposition.  In  many 
a  town  the  Christian  pulpit  scarcely  constitutes  any 
appreciable  breakwater  against  the  wdielmiug  tides  of 
infidelity  and  sin  surging  around  us ;  and  in  Christian 
America  not  one  man  in  twenty  is  ever  seen  within  the 
walls  of  a  Christian  church.  Surely  there  must  be  a 
great  want  somewhere. 

257 


258  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

The  ministry  required  by  the  times  is  the  same  min- 
istry required  in  all  times ;  the  Christian  pulpit  is  chief 
among  God's  ordinances  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
in  the  world.  The  pulpit  must  be  acknowledged  while 
the  world  stands  the  most  effective  support  and  ordi- 
nance in  the  world.  It  is  the  third  great  institution 
of  Christianity,  having  as  much  authority  as  the  two 
first. 

There  are  special  difficulties  in  our  time.  But  no 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  Christian  pulpit  and  Chris- 
tian work  ought  to  be  named  as  any  apology  for  that 
work,  except  the  obstacles  within  the  church  itself.  As 
well  might  Gen.  Grant  have  complained  of  the  cannon 
and  sharp-shooting  of  Lee's  army ;  but  for  them,  there 
would  have  been  no  use  for  him.  What  we  are  for  is 
to  remove  the  obstacles  in  the  mind  of  man,  and  go  on 
with  the  conquest  set  before  us. 

The  ministry  required  by  our  times  must  be  a  learned 
ministry.  Not  an  educated  ministry :  these  are  not 
convertible  terms.  Many  an  educated  man,  so-called, 
is  not  learned,  and  many  an  uneducated  one  can  become 
truly  learned.  By  a  learned  ministry,  I  mean  a  minis- 
try in  such  a  state  that  it  is  perpetually  acquiring  and 
containing  and  increasing  in  culture  and  power.  It  is 
very  likely  God  will  call  some  men  from  the  plow  or 
anvil  straight  to  a  high  and  exalted  Christian  work, 
perhaps  in  the  pulpit,  and  that  the  circumstances  will 
forbid  a  long  course  of  special  preparation,  and  yet 
the  blessing  of  God  will  be  on  them.  And  yet  I  plead  for 
a  learned  ministry  in  the  sense  defined.  This  need  is 
very  manifest  in  our  time  for  many  reasons.  Times 
are  greatly  changed.  Our  grandfathers  lived  in  another 
age,  almost  in  another  world,  from  that  which  sur- 
rounds us.    The  masses  have  been  lifted  up  to  a  larger 


CHAKACTERISTICS  OF  THE  MINISTRY.        259 

intelligence,  great  books  of  the  world  are  sold  for 
ten  cents  ;  and,  if  we  do  not  look  out,  multitudes  of  peo- 
ple in  our  congregations  Avill  be  ahead  of  us  in  our  think- 
ing, on  the  very  topics  on  which  we  are  called 
to  preach.  In  the  old  times  in  "Merrie  England,"  not 
one  man  in  ten,  except  the  priest,  could  read  or  write 
his  own  name.  When  William  and  Mary  came  to  the 
throne,  a  Bible  was  presented  to  them,  and  Marj  wTote 
in  it,  "  Presented  to  King  and  I  on  our  Crownation," 
making  two  mistakes  of  which  any  school  girl  twelve 
years  old  would  now  be  ashamed.  Because  the  times 
have  changed,  because  literature  and  science  and  philos- 
ophy have  all  been  popularized,  and  the  masses  of  the 
people  are  reading,  reading,  thinking,  thinking  ;  there- 
fore the  spiritual  leaders  must  read  and  think,  and  think 
to  a  purpose,  or  be  left  behind. 

Further,  the  multitude  of  topics  which  the  Christian 
puljiit  must  teach  and  preach  wisely  requires  the  leader 
of  the  people  to  be  himself  a  reader  and  to  be  poste<l 
on  all  these  themes.  By  a  mistake  in  your  reference  to 
a  topic  in  everybody's  mouth,  you  ma^^  bar  your  way 
to  spiritual  power  over  some  man,  whom  by  a  little 
more  intelligence  you  might  reach.  And,  if  au}^  man 
thinks  in  contemplating  the  ministry,  that,  though  he 
does  skim  over  the  language,  and  does  not  very  pro- 
foun<lly  study  the  Word  of  God,  somewhere  else  than 
in  Massachusetts,  there  will  be  a  place  for  him,  that  in 
the  far  West  he  will  be  wanted,  he  is  greatly  mistaken. 
I  have  been  all  over  those  regions,  and  I  would  as  soon 
undertake  to  find  a  place  for  some  raw,  unfledged 
Christian  weakling  in  Boston  or  in  Philadel^jhia  as  in 
Santa  Fe..  You  cannot  find  such  small  places  without 
finding  a  dozen  or  twenty  college  graduates  and  women 
interested  in   these   questions.    Wherever   you   go,   if 


260  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

you  attempt  to  handle  the  Word  of  God,  you  must 
handle  it  with  intelligence  and  increasing  intellectual 
grasp. 

But  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  need.  How  are  you  to 
bring  about  this  result?  Go  through  the  college  and 
the  theological  schools.  Yes,  that  introduces  you  to 
the  alphabet  of  what  I  am  talking  about,  it  places  you 
at  the  open  gateway  of  the  central  branches  of  knowl- 
edge. Understaml  that  your  life  is  to  be  passed  in 
study  in  order  to  develop  yourself  into  that  capacity 
which  you  must  reach.  Let  me  quote  Dr.  Shedd  :  "  By 
the  daily  everlasting  study  of  a  few  great  authors  :  " 
don't  dawdle  over  magazines  or  daily  papers.  Some 
one  says  that  seven  minutes  and  a  half  are  enough 
for  the  daily  paper ;  then  stretch  yourself  on  the  great 
authors  of  the  world,  two  or  three  each  in  philosophy, 
history  and  poetry.  Pass  time  in  your  study,  in  com- 
munion with  the  great  thinkers  of  the  race. 

Secondly,  this  need  is  to  be  met  very  largely  by 
daily,  nightly  and  everlasting  study  of  the  one  Book 
of  books.  In  two  viajs :  first,  minutely,  to  get  the 
very  essence  of  the  text :  in  the  Greek  and  Hebrew,  if 
you  have  them,  if  not,  in  the  Greek.  One  hour  a  day 
in  two  years  will  enable  you  to  get  the  meaning  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  very  words  in  which  your  Saviour  spoke 
and  St.  Paul  wrote.  If  you  have  not  these,  there  is 
still  no  excuse  for  not  being  a  great  exegete,  so  long 
as  such  English  commentaries  as  Ellicott's  and  Alford's 
can  be  found.  Secondly,  study  it  largely.  Have  you 
ever  read  Hebrews  through,  comparing  it  with  Levit- 
icus, and  studying  it  two  or  three  days?  Give  the 
Bible  a  chance.  What  would  you  think  of  a  man  who 
professed  to  understand  Macaulay's  History  of  Eng- 
land by  reading  one  day  a  few  lines  on  one  page  in 


CIIAEACTERTSTICS  OF   THE  MINISTRY,         -'Bl 

one  volume,  and  another  day  a  few  lines  on  another 
page  in  another  yolunie  ?  These  two  methods  dili- 
gently followed  AA'ill  make  3'ou  a  learned  minister. 

So  much  for  the  need  and  the  way  of  meeting  it. 
Woe  to  that  man  who  effects  a  learned  style  of  preacdiing. 
Woe  to  the  man  who  airs  his  biological  and  philoso- 
phical knowledge,  while  the  hungry  sheep  look  at  it 
and  are  not  fed.  Lay  down  every  day  all  your  treas- 
ures at  Jesus'  feet,  and,  when  you  come  to  the  pulpit, 
preach  the  Word.  I  knew  an  eminent  minister,  Avho 
got  the  notion  that  his  special  office  was  to  show  men 
the  logical  bearings  and  philosophical  relations  of 
religious  truth.  Alas  for  the  church,  when  the  pastor 
has  a  hobby.  He  announced  a  series  of  Sunday  night 
lectures  on  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  all  religion, 
and  began  with  "  The  Being  of  ( lod."  He  preached 
very  profoundly,  raised  more  doubts  than  the  congre- 
gation had  ever  read  in  their  lives,  and  then  tried  briefly 
to  answer  them.  After  service,  a  gray-haired  saint  was 
asked  :  "  Didn't  the  doctor  give  us  a  grand  sermon  ?  " 
'^  Oh,  I  suppose  so,  but  I  still  believe  in  the  existence 
of  God."  Over  against  that,  put  this.  John  Wesley 
preached  in  Scotland,  and  a  Scotchwoman  was  asked 
if  she  knew  the  preacher  was  Wesley.  '^Is  that  the 
great  Mr.  Wesley  ?  Wh}^  I  understood  e\'er3^  word  he 
said."  But,  young  man,  make  up  your  mind,  if  you 
follow  the  call  to  the  greatest  work  ever  given  to  man, 
to  furnish  yourself  better  every  week  for  this  work. 
If  you  don't,  the  people  will  find  you  out,  and  they  do 
find  many  a  man  out,  and  put  him  out,  too,  before 
he  is  forty-five,  when  attention  to  his  duty  would  make 
him  acceptable  up  to  seventy.  In  officialh'  leading  a 
Southern  Methodist  Conference,  I  asked  a  cabinet  of 
six  colored  j^residing  elders  to  select  a  suitable  place 


262  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

for  a  certain  man,  but  tliey  all  shook  thir  heads.  "  Why 
can't  you  suggest  a  suitable  appointment  for  him,  that 
man  over  in  the  windoAV,  who  is  bald?"  I  asked.  ^^I 
can  tell  you  what  ails  him,"  said  one,  "he's  bald  on 
the  inside  of  his  head."  The  way  to  avoid  that  is  ever- 
lasting communion  with  the  great  authors,  and,  above 
all,  with  that  one  Book. 

In  the  second  place,  w^hat  is  of  greater  account  still ; 
it  must  be  a  consecrated  ministry ;  a  ministry  in  its 
w^hole  purpose,  warp  and  woof,  one  of  devotement  to 
God  and  man.  From  Paul's  time  to  the^  present,  it 
looks  as  though  God  had  a  plan,  that  no  great  new 
movement  in  Christianity  or  in  the  moral  uplift  of 
the  world  should  be  made  by  any  man  not  imbued  with 
that  martyr  spirit  which  took  Christianity  throughout 
the  Eoman  Empire,  so  that,  in  three  centuries,  it  stood 
on  the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  and  saved  the  Eoman 
men  and  women  and  timid  children,  who  had  heard 
the  crunching  of  the  bones  of  their  own  kindred,  and 
who  themselves  stood  in  jeopardy  every  hour.  We 
profess  to  believe  in  a  Divine  call  to  the  work  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  and  of  that  call  the  logical  sequence 
is  supreme  devotement,  personal  and  official,  to  the 
God  who  gives  the  call.  Let  the  engineer  pull  out 
the  throttle  and  play  cards,  let  the  pilot  of  a  steamer 
in  a  hurricane  immerse  himself  in  a  novel,  but  let  not 
the  Avatchman  of  the  Lord  be  but  awake  and  in  dead 
earnest,  when  all  around  immortal  souls  are  in  death 
grapple  with  their  great  enemy.  The  power  of  such 
a  character  is  beyond  all  statement  or  imagination. 
Even  when  such  a  devotement  is  made  in  a  bad  cause 
it   makes   a   man   in   a    certain   measure   omnipotent. 

Gibbon  gives  us  an  account  in  his  fifth  volume  of  a 
rebel  sect  of  Mohammedans,  called  the   Carmathians, 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  MINISTRY.         203 

who,  rebelling  against  the  third  Caliph,  having  only 
five  hundred  among  them,  and  having  simply  made 
a  vow  of  absolute  obedience  to  theii*  Imaum,  started 
for  Bagdad.  The  Caliph's  first  messenger  appeared  and 
told  their  leaders:  ^'This  hour  escape  is  possible,  the 
next  impossible."  The  Imaum  turned  and  said:  "Your 
master  has  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  I  have  but  five 
hundred,  but  three  such  men  as  these  he  has  not." 
Then  he  said  to  the  first  man  he  saw,  "  Plunge  your  dag- 
ger into  your  heart,"  and  he  did  so ;  and  to  the  next, 
"  Leap  into  the  Tigris,"  and  he  did  so ;  and  to  the  third, 
"  Fling  yourself  down  from  that  i)recii)ice,"  which  he 
did.  Then,  turning  to  the  messenger  of  the  Caliph, 
he  said,  "  Go,  tell  your  master  what  you  have  seen,  and 
then  tell  him  also  that  before  evening  his  general  shaU 
be  chained  among  jny  dogs ; "  and  it  was  so.  AYhat 
would  happen  if  every  Christian  minister  in  Massa- 
chusetts alone  had  such  a  spirit  of  absolute  loyalty  and 
devotion  to  the  only  being  in  the  universe  who  deserves 
it,  and  were  able  to  say,  "Neither  count  I  my  life 
dear  unto  m3'self,  so  that  I  may  finish  my  course  with 
joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God." 

As  a  third  qualification  for  a  successful  minis- 
try, it  must  be  in  its  purpose  and  achievement  a 
soul-saving  ministry.  If  you  please,  a  revival  minis- 
try, a  ministr^^  which  aims  straight  at  the  conversion 
of  men  and  secures  it,  a  ministry  which  restlessly  hun- 
gers after  souls  to  see  them  brought  into  the  kingdom  of 
Christ ;  a  ministry  which  cannot  contain  itself  a  single 
year  without  this  Divinely  given  hope.  I  do  not  plead 
for  wildfire  :  it  is  the  farthest  thing  from  my  nature  and 
habit  of  thought;  but  I  plead  with  Almighty  God  for  the 
fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven  upon 


2G4  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

all  the  ministers  of  the  Word,  upon  the  Word  which 
they  preach,  and  upon  the  hard  hearts  of  the  uncon- 
verted who  listen  to  them.  When  the  Word  is  so  preach- 
ed, revivals  come.  They  may  come  like  the  still,  small 
voice,  or  like  the  mighty  rushing  wind ;  no  matter 
how,  so  that  they  vindicate  themselves  as  sent  from 
God. 

It  may  be  some  one  says  that  "  evangelists  have  their 
place,  and  pastors  theirs,  and  there  is  a  great  work  to 
be  done  in  building  up  the  church."  Building  uj)  the 
church  !  How  much  do  jow  suppose  a  man  can  build 
up  the  church  under  whose  ministry  no  sinners  are  con- 
verted? His  work  is  more  likely  to  be  a  tearing  doAvn  of 
the  church.  That  is  the  way  I  have  ever  found  in  a  min- 
istry of  more  than  thirty  years.  To  build  up  the  church  is 
to  take  the  rough  blocks  out  of  nature's  quarry,  and  put 
them  into  the  walls  of  the  church.  Bishop  McLevin, 
<>i  Ohio,  said  :  "  All  the  religion  I  have  began  in  a 
revival,  and  the  most  precious  fruits  of  my  ministry 
have  always  been  the  fruits  of  revivals."  Bishop  Simp- 
son said  :  "Five  years  without  revivals  would  lead  to  de- 
cline in  our  strongest  churches."  Dr.  Noah  Porter 
says :  "  The  great  want  of  the  church  to-day  is  multi- 
plied, deep,  far-reaching,  continued  revivals."  Let 
these  great  names  carry  your  thought,  if  not  your  con- 
viction, to  profound  study  of  this  topic. 

Again,  the  ministry  in  these  times  specially  requires 
to  be  a  ministry  for  the  transformation  of  society,  for 
the  actual  making  new  men  in  the  image  of  Christ 
Jesus,  and  for  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  masses 
of  the  community.  There  is  a  false  conception  in 
some  minds,  concerning  what  the  church  is,  and  what 
it  is  for.  Many  seem  to  think  it  is  a  guild  or  cabal, 
a  mutual  admiration  society,  gotten  up  to  engage  in 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  MINISTRY.         205 

mild  types  of  some  agreeable  methods  of  doing  good  : 
utterly  erroneous  conceptions.  Tlie  church  is  the  king- 
dom of  God  among  men.  Its  work  is  to  build  men  into 
God;  to  take  human  nature,  unattractive,  unlovely 
and  sinful,  and,  by  God's  might,  to  la^^  on  it  a  nature 
transforming  it  into  the  kingdom,  and  rearing  it  up  in 
righteousness  of  daily  living,  in  true  holiness  of  heart, 
and  in  preparation  for  mansioiis  where  nothing  impure 
can  come.  So  the  Christian  pulpit  or  platform,  or 
the  prayer  meeting,  is  not  a  place  where  agreeable 
things  are  to  be  said,  or  bright  and  trenchant  essays 
read.  It  is  the  place  where  the  Word  of  God  is 
to  be  brought  into  the  consciences  and  hearts  of  those 
who  sit  before  you  for  their  moral  transformation  and 
spiritual  uplifting.  You  are  so  to  preach  the  Word 
that  that  Christian  merchant,  who  has  been  living 
righteously  all  the  week,  and  is  consecrated  to  God, 
and  yet  is  covered  with  the  dust  of  the  week  and  wearied 
with  its  heat,  shall,  as  he  sits  before  you,  be  made  to  feel 
that  he  is  a  partner  with  the  Eternal  in  the  salvation  of 
the  world.  You  are  so  to  speak  that  that  ungodly  mer- 
chant who  has  been  striving  in  every  way,  honest  or 
dishonest,  to  fill  his  pocket,  shall,  while  you  speak, 
feel  that  God  or  the  devil  is  after  him,  and  will  quickly 
get  him.  You  are  so  to  speak  that  that  busy  house- 
wife, who  can  scarcely  get  away  from  the  washing  of 
her  children's  clothes  to  get  to  church  at  all,  shall, 
while  you  speak,  learn  Avhat  George  Herbert  meant 
when  he  said,  rather  quaintly,  concerning  consecration 
to  God,  as  the  sanctifying  power  for  all  service: 

"A  servant  with  this  clause 

Makes  drudgery  divine, 
Who  sweeps  the  rooni  as  for  thy  laws, 

Makes  that  and  tlie  action  fine/' 

These  four  are  the  great  qualifications  for  a  success- 


266  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

ful  ministry.  It  miis^t  be  in  the  sense  defined  a  learned 
ministry ;  it  must  be  a  consecrated  ministry,  a  soul- 
saving  ministry,  and  a  ministry  for  the  actual  trans- 
formation of  society  into  righteousness  and  the  image 
of  God.  For  these  four  things,  there  must  be  four 
others.  The  ministry  needed  must  be  a  hand  to  hand 
ministry,  a  Biblical  ministry,  a  loyal  ministry,  a  manly 
ministry.  I  will  not  enlarge  on  the  topic  of  a  Biblical 
ministry.  The  Bible  is  our  perpetual  counsel.  It  is 
before  you  all,  as  the  word  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and 
therefore  the  ministry  for  which  it  provides  must 
consult  it.  Nor  will  I  pause  on  the  topic  of  a  manly 
ministry.  I  am  glad  to  be  before  some  hundreds  of 
30ung  men,  who,  whatever  they  do  lack,  do  not  lack 
the  practice  of  a  manly  and  noble  development  in  all 
Avise  athletic  culture;  in  all  wise  intellectual  develop- 
ment and  power;  in  all  development  of  conscience  and 
the  noblest  purposes  of  men ;  and,  above  all,  in  con- 
secration to  God. 

But  on  each  of  the  other  topics  let  me  speak  a  word. 
It  must  be  a  hand-to-hand  ministry:  after  the  cannon- 
ade from  the  pulpit,  the  duel  with  short  swords.  Go 
and  find  your  fellowman  where  he  is,  and  make  him 
understand  that  the  general  message  from  the  puljDit 
is  a  message  to  him.  In  all  the  fruits  of  my  own  min- 
istry, the  richest  were  on  this  line.  I  thank  God  I  have 
been  allowed  to  witness  the  power  of  the  Spirit  in 
single  sermons.  But,  where  I  have  had  one  person 
reached  through  a  sermon,  I  have  had  five  or  six  saved 
by  somebody  who  sought  them  through  the  Spirit.  It 
does  not  want  the  tongue  of  a  Chrysostom ;  it  simply 
wants  a  heart  set  on  fire  with  love  to  Jesus  Christ, 
and  a  little  common  sense.  To  that  work,  in  God's 
name,  I  adjure  you  to  be  faithful,  if  you  want  many 
stars  in  vour  crown. 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF   THE  MINISTRY.         207 

The  ministry  greath'  needed  in  onr  times  is  a  loyal 
ministry,  by  wliicli  I  mean  a  ministry  thoroughly  loyal 
to  the  great  evangelical  doctrines  which  the  church 
has  received,  and  especially  to  those  doctrines  esteemed 
important  by  the  branch  of  the  church  to  which  you 
belong.  I  know  of  nothing  which  would  be  more  ridic- 
ulous, if  it  were  not  so  lamentable  and  fraught  with 
evil,  than  to  see  a  good  young  sophomore  of  the  pulpit, 
particularly  ^'ell  dressed,  come  to  the  sacred  desk  with 
a  light  and  airy  step,  as  though  mounting  a  throne, 
and  lay  out  before  the  people  an  elaborate  essay,  which 
proceeds  from  beginning  to  end  on  the  cool  assum]3- 
tion  that  the  church  of  which  he  is  the  minister,  the 
Bible  on  which  it  is  built,  the  Christendom  of  which  it 
is  a  part,  and  the  great  God  who  gave  that  Bible,  ha^e 
no  rights  except  such  as  first  vindicate  themselves  to 
his  lordly  reason.  Suppose  the  village  poetaster 
should  so  treat  "Paradise  Lost,"  or  the  village  archi- 
tect should  express  grave  doubts  as  to  the  excellence  of 
the  dome  of  St.  Peter's.  "Paradise  Lost"  and  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's  would  not  feel  it  much,  but  it  would 
fix  the  grade  of  the  architect  and  the  poet.  Eead  Glad- 
stone's two  great  essays  on  "  The  influence  of  Author- 
ity in  Matters  of  Religion,"  and  see  what  he  says  about 
the  attitude  of  a  young  lawyer;  how  he  treats  the 
great  judges  of  the  world  and  the  great  precedents  in 
the  books,  and  follows  them  till  many  years  of  care- 
ful study  enable  him  to  give  an  independent  judg- 
ment. Read  what  that  great  thinker  says  concerning 
the  physician,  who  is  governed  by  the  profoundest  study 
of  those  who  have  gone  before  him,  at  least  till  he  has 
had  time  to  master  the  science  of  medicine  in  some 
humble  degree.  And  then  look  at  a  mere  infant  of 
the  pulpit,  who  feels  able  in  the  early  stage  of  his 


268  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

ministry  to  cast  doubts  on  Moses,  and  on  David,  and 
on  Paul,  and  on  Christ,  and  to  lead  the  peoj^le  to  think 
that  each  for  himself  must  construct  his  own  Bible, 
and  his  own  religion.  If  you  enter  the  Christian  min- 
istry, understand  that  you  take  a  place  of  high  honor 
and  of  power,  and  ally  yourself  with  thousands  of 
men  who  al  o  have  come  into  a  grand  inlieritance  from 
the  past.  To  the  truths  which  this  implies  be  loyal, 
till  you  find  that  you  must  differ  and  doubt,  and  then 
say  so  to  your  brethren,  an<l  go  in  jyeace,  and  they  will 
send  after  you  their  benediction  and  their  prayers ; 
but  do  not  stand  Avithin  the  sacred  temple  of  the 
Christian  church  and  pull  down  its  pillars  or  undermine 
its  foundations. 

I  said  just  now  that  the  evangelical  churches  believed 
in  a  divine  call.  If  God  has  given  you  that  call,  refuse 
it  at  your  peril.  If  he  has  not,  do  not  enter  the  sacred 
portals  of  the  Christian  pulpit.  (A  Vi)ice:  "What  do 
you  consider  a  call?")  If  you  are  in  doubt  about  it, 
that  doubt  may  indicate  the  first  whisper  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  your  heart,  and  that  whisper,  listened  to  on 
your  knees,  with  much  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  earnest  prayer  that  God  will  give  you  light,  will 
result  in  one  of  two  things.  Bj^  a  careful,  patient  per- 
formance of  every  Christian  duty,  by  God's  grace  you 
will  be  absolved  at  the  court  of  your  own  judgment 
and  will  know  that  your  place  is  not  in  the  Christian 
ministry,  but  in  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  laity.  Or 
else  that  whisper  will  become  a  louder  voice  and  clearer, 
till  you  shall  feel  in  your  heart,  "God  speaks  :  I  will 
reverently  listen." 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

THE    SPIRIT    AND    THE     WORD. 

Talk  by  Evangelist  G.  C.  Xeedham— The  Word  the  Spirit's  Medium  of 
Communication  to  Man— Harmony  of  the  Spirit  and  Word  in  Chris- 
tian Work— The  Work  of  Both  in  Conversion  and  Sanctiflcation— 
Danger  cf  Neglecting  Either. 

In  thie  counsels  of  heaven,  there  was  a  marriage  long 
before  man  appeared,  which  can  never  be  annulled.  The 
Holy  Spirit  was  ui^ited  to  the  Word  of  revelation: 
"  What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  j)\it  asun- 
der." It  is  well  to  keep  constantly  before  our  minds  the 
personality  of  the  Holy  Crhost.  When  we  remember  the 
qualities,  attributes  and  feelings  attributed  to  the 
Spirit,  we  know  that  He  is  something  more  than  a  mere 
influence.  All  that  goes  to  mnke  up  personality  is  at- 
tributed to  Him. 

In  speaking  of  the  relation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the 
Word  of  God,  I  would  first  remind  you  that  He  is  the 
author  of  that  Word  in  all  its  thoughts  and  terms. 
I.  Cor.,  i.,  13.  He  makes  known  His  thoughts  through  the 
vehicle  of  speech  :  otherwise  He  could  not  communicate 
with  us.  Thereby  He  has  elevated  human  language,  till 
it  becomes  divine.  The  object  of  the  ministry  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  aU  phases  of  His  work  is  the  exalta- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  So  Avhen  w^e  come 
to  the  W^ord,  w^e  find  that  here  the  Spirit  takes  of  the 
truths  and  promises  of  Jesus,  and  reveals  them  to  us, 
so  that  the  personal  Christ  to  which  they  relate  becomes 
a  personal  Christ  to  us. 

In  the  Old  Testament  we  have  a  pathetic  scene,  where 
the  sons  of  Jacob  reveal  to  their  father  that  Joseph  is 
alive.  The  news  was  so  sudden  and  startling  that  he 
could  not  believe  it,  but,  when  they  brought  him  to  the 

269 


270  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

door  and  showed  liiin  tlie  wagons  and  chariots  filled  with 
grain,  the  like  of  which  he  had  never  seen,  he  broke 
out :  "  It  is  enough  that  m^^  son  is  yet  alive ;  I  will  go." 
It  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  bring  to  us  all  these  evi- 
dences of  the  things  of  Christ.  Hence,  we  ought  to 
l)ut  ourselves  into  an  attitude  of  sympathy  and  commun- 
ion with  the  Spirit. 

He  is  the  Author  of  God's  AYord.  David  attributes  to 
Him  not  only  the  thought  of  the  Psalms,  but  the  very 
words  in  which  the  thought  is  couched. 

Another  thought  is  the  harmony  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
Word  in  the  work.  There  are  no  contradictions,  there 
is  no  discord  between  thean.  It  is  the  same  ministry, 
and  the  very  names  and  emblems  of  the  Spirit  are  given 
to  the  Word ;  Spirit  of  God,  Word  of  God  •  Spirit  of 
Christ,  Word  of  Christ;  Spirit  of  power.  Word  of  power. 

See  hoAV  closely  the  work  of  the  Spirit  is  connected 
with  the  Word.  The  creeds  of  all  evangelical  churches 
hold  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the  author  of  regenera- 
tion. He,  by  His  mighty  power  and  mysterious  w^orlv- 
ings,  creates  man's  spirit  anew.  Eegeneration  is  also 
attributed  to  the  Word  of  God.  '^  Being  born  again,  not 
of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorrui)tible,  by  the  Word  of 
God."  I  have  very  little  faith  in  any  conversion  not  the 
outcome  of  the  divine  Word:  the  seed  of  God's  Word 
lodging  in  the  human  heart  and  the  Spirit  of  God  brood- 
ing over  it  and  giving  life  to  it. 

The  Spirit  of  God  sanctifies,  and  we  ought  to  become 
more  sanctified  every  day.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  pro- 
gressive holiness.  But  what  is  the  instrument  of  this 
work?  "Sanctify  them  through  Thy  truth.  Thy 
Word  is  truth."  It  is  possible  for  men  to  be  sanctified 
without  thrills  and  ecstasies  ;  the  Word  supplanting  the 
flesh,  taking  possession  of  the  man  and  melting  him  into 


THE  SPIEIT  AND  THE  WOED.  271 

the  holiness  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  have  very  little  faith 
in  the  sanctification  that  is  not  the  outcome  of  medita- 
tion upon  the  Scriptures  receiving  them  in  all  their 
power  and  fullness  into  our  souls. 

Growth  is  the  result  of  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit,  but 
we  grow  by  the  Word.  And  then,  when  we  think  of 
guidance,  He  guides  by  His  Spirit,  but  thank  God  for 
the  guidance  of  the  AYord,  too.  Here  we  have  directions 
for  all  the  exigencies  of  life. 

In  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  Word  of  God  we  have 
all  that  we  require  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  work  of 
God.  ATe  have  seen  wonderful  things  take  place,  when 
simple  men  have  sought  to  honor  the  divine  Word,  and 
look  to  the  divine  Spirit  to  make  the  Word  effective. 

Two  dangers  attend  this.  If  we  give  ourselves  to  the 
stud}'  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  the  pursuit  of 
the  Spirit's  directions  alone,  we  are  in  gTeat  danger  of 
becoming  fanatical  and  unreasonable.  Secondly,  we 
are  in  danger  of  filling  our  minds  with  the  di^y  details 
of  the  Word,  the  geography  and  history  and  even  the 
doctrines,  so  far  as  their  outward  f oi'm  is  concerned.  We 
m?ij  be  very  expert  in  controversy,  and  yet  be  as  dry  in 
our  souls  as  Gideon's  fleece  when  there  was  no  dew 
upon  it.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  not  away  in  the  heavens, 
hiding  Himself  in  darkness.  He  is  in  the  heart  of  the 
believer,  waiting  to  minister  to  you,  when  you  put  your- 
self into  sympathy  with  Him.  If  we  are  racing  through 
life,  and  trying  to  satisfy  our  consciences  on  Sundays  by 
taking  in  what  religion  we  can,  we  cannot  be  strong  in 
the  Lord.  It  would  be  better  for  a  man  to  put  his  hand 
upon  the  brakes,  and  say:  "You  must  take  time  every 
day  to  study  the  Bible,  and  for  a  little  talk  with  God,  so 
that,  when  the  hour  of  duty  comes,  you  are  ready  for 
every  good  work." 


CHAPTEK  XXIII. 

INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Address  by  Rev.  I.  D.  Driver— No  Critic  Formulated  a  System  of  The- 
ology—All  Progress  Based  on  Difficulties— Goodness,  but  not  Wis- 
dom, Within  the  Reach  of  all— Treat  the  Intellect  with  the  same 
Care  as  You  Would  Your  Stomach— Thoughts  of  God  Incarnated 
Tliroughout  NatiLfe— Analysis  of  the  Book  of  Job— The  Moccasin 
Man,  the  Shoe  Man,  and  the  Boot  Man— Criticism  of  the  Penta- 
teuch—The Witch  of  Endor— Symbolism. 

In  which  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood, 
which  they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest,  as 
they  do  also  the  other  Scriptures,  unto  their  own  de- 
struction."— II.  Peter,  iii.,  16. 

This  is  what  the  apostle  Peter  says  of  the  scriptures 
in  general,  and  Paul's  Epistles,  in  particular.  Nothing 
said  here  would  exclude  the  Bible  from  the  laity,  for  the 
passage  is  positive  proof  that  the  scrii^tures  were  in 
their  hands,  or  how  could  some  "w^rest"  them.  The 
danger  spoken  of  arises,  not  from  misinterpretation,  but 
a  wdlful  perversion,  indicated  by  the  word  "wrest" 
(strebloo),  w^hich  means  to  twist  as  with  a  windlass,  to 
screws  up  the  strings  of  an  instrument,  to  dislocate  a 
limb.  It  does  not  refer  to  a  misunderstanding,  but  to  a 
wilful  distortion,  wdiich  is  done  to  the  "other"  (plain) 
as  w^ell  as  difficult  parts. 

It  is  not  the  interpretation  of  a  moral  precept  which  is 
here  referred  to.  But  the  apostle  refers  to  special  rela- 
tive questions  which  can  be  "  understood"  in  the  light  of 
past  history,  revealing  customs,  laws,  languages,  prov- 
erbs, and  by  a  proper  discrimination  between  what  was 
"given  by  inspiration"  and  what  was  "inspired,"  as  we 
shall  see. 

272 


INTERPRETATION   OF    THE   BIBLE.  21?, 

The  human  mind  is  unable  to  evade  the  conclusion 
that  if  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God,  it  must 
strictly  comj^ort  with  nature:  and  if  it  could  be  shown 
that  nature  contradicts  the  Bible,  in  au}^  material  fact, 
the  Bible,  as  a  revelation  from  God,  would  be  destroy e<l; 
for,  as  certainly  as  a  book  contains  the  thoughts  of  the 
writer,  just  so  certainly  does  nature  contain  the  thoughts 
of  its  maker;  and,  as  Blackstone  sajs,  T\'hen  both  are  un- 
derstood and  co:npared,  there  is  perfect  harmony.  But  as 
We  have  already  seen,  Avhile  the  question  of  authentica- 
tion is  simple,  direct,  and  easy,  the  question  of  interpre- 
tation is  (as  Peter  says)  "hard,"  and  almost,  if  not  alto- 
gether, boundless.  Neither  is  it  strange  that  it  should  be 
so  when  we  reflect  that  any  rule  for  our  guidance  and 
safety  must  be  simple  and  easy  to  comprehend,  while 
that  part  intended  for  our  mental  culture  must  contain 
(lifl8.culties  reaching  to  the  utmost  limits  of  human  pro- 
gi^ess,  for  all  progress  ends  with  the  end  of  difficulties. 
Where  there  is  no  difficulty,  there  is  nothing  to  over- 
come. Where  there  is  no  struggle  there  can  be  no  tri- 
umi^h. 

The  Bible  has  difficulties,  so  has  nature.  So  far  they 
agree.  Surrounded  by,  and  working  with,  all  the  mys- 
teries of  nature,  a  man  can  live  to  old  age  and  under- 
stand but  little  of  what  he  has  done  and  how  he  has  done 
it;  and  in  five  minutes  he  can  read  and  comprehend  from 
the  Bible  every  moral  duty  his  being  requires.  These 
essentials  to  perpetuate  life  are  as  plain  in  the  Bible  as 
they  are  in  nature.  No  man  of  the  human  race  has  been 
in  circumstances  to  become  absolutely  wise;  but  every 
one  of  the  human  family,  i^ossessed  of  sufficient  wisdom 
to  be  responsible,  can  be  good;  and  Jesus  did  not  say — 
blessed  are  the  wise  in  head — but  the  pure  in  heart  shall 
see  God/'  To  understand  all  the  mysteries  of  nature,  does 


274  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

not  necessarily  make  a  better  man.  The  "understand- 
ing of  all  mysteries"  and  "faith,  to  remove  mountains,'^ 
without  "  charity  "  (love  or  loyalty),  profiteth  nothing. 

As  already  stated  (Lecture  Two),  from  Celsus  till  to- 
day, no  writer  against  the  Bible  has  discriminated  be- 
tw^een  authenticating  and  interpreting  an  instrument. 
It  is  also  remarkable  that  no  distinction  has  been  made 
betw^een  w^hat  is  "given  b}^  inspiration"  and  what  is 
"  inspired." 

Hence,  the  "Drunkenness  of  Noah,"  "Sin  of  David," 
"Polygamy  of  Solomon,"  Abraham  denying  his  wdfe," 
though  all  recorded  in  the  histories  given  in  the  Bible,  are 
all  condemned  by  Bible  law.  "All  scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for 
reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness, 
that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works." — 11.  Tim.,  iii.,  16-17.  Here 
the  apostle  gives  us  the  rules  by  which  the  scriptures 
are  to  be  interj^reted,  and  it  is  very  remarkable  that  they 
strictly  coincide  with  the  rules  of  evidence  that  govern 
our  courts  of  justice  to-day. 

All  that  a  witness  states  is  "given  in  testimony,"  and 
what  he  knows  is  testimony;  and  telling  what  another 
man  said  is  "given  in  testimony ;"  but  the  witness  telling 
what  another  said  does  not  make  it  testimony,  as  the  man 
who  told  the  witness  was  not  under  oath  ;  for,  as  Justice 
B  idler  says — ^^"If  the  first  speech  were  without  an  oath, 
another's  oath  that  there  w^as  such  a  speech,  makes  it 
no  more  than  a  bare  speaking." — Bull.  N.,  p.  294. 
Kow,  apply  this  rule  to  inspiration.  If  the  first  speaker 
is  uninspired,  an  inspired  man  telling  what  the  unin- 
spired man  said  or  did,  does  not  inspire  the  uninspired 
man.  Surely,  no  one  can  think  that  an  inspired  man 
telling  what  Satan  said,  would  inspire  Satan.    When 


INTERPRETATION   OF   THE   BIBLE.  275 

Moses  TST^'ote  the  sentence — "In  tKe  beginning  God  cre- 
ated the  heaven  and  the  earth  " — that  was  "given  by  in- 
spiration," and  was  inspired,  for  Moses  was  "inspired  '* 
to  write  what  God  said.  When  he  wrote  the  sentence — 
"Ye  shall  not  surely  die  " — that  was  "given  by  inspira- 
tion "  as  mach  as  the  other,  for  Moses  was  mspired  to 
tell  what  the  serpent  said,  but  Moses  wl'iting  by  inspira- 
tion did  not  "inspire  "  the  serpent.  So  when  the  Evange- 
list wrote — "  Say  we  not  well  that  thou  art  a  Samaritan, 
and  hast  a  devil,"  he  wrote  by  inspiration  what  a  wicked 
Jew  said,  but  that  did  not  inspire  the  Jew  nor  credit 
his  testimony. 

I  have  been  particular,  and  have  repeated  the  same 
words,  at  the  sacrifice  of  style,  to  make  this  distinction 
plain,  as  its  disregard  has  confounded  the  distinction 
betAveen  the  histories  recoi'ded  in  the  Bible,  and  the  laws 
of  the  Bible,  and  the  strongest  arguments  against  the 
scriptures  have  been  the  result  of  confounding  these 
distinctions. 

That  only  what  inspiration  tells  us  God  says  is  "doc- 
trine," is  a  rule  that  never  can  be  disputed  ;  but  to  "per- 
fect the  man  of  God,"  inspiration  must  tell  many  other 
things.  To  give  a  "  perfect  "  rule  of  life,  humanity  needs 
many  things  besides  Islwz — example,  experience,  mis- 
takes, departures — ^all  are  needed.  To  safel}^  navigate  the 
seas,  the  compass,  quadrant  and  chronometer  are  not  suf- 
ficient. By  the  aid  of  these  the  mariner  knows  which 
way  to  go  and  where  he  is  ;  but  without  the  discoveries, 
mistakes  and  disasters  of  those  who  have  gone  before 
him,  he  is  in  constant  danger.  These  mistakes  and 
disasters  are  not  put  down  on  his  chart  for  him  to 
imitate  and  follow,  but  to  show  him  where  there  is 
danger  that  he  may  avoid  it  ;  and  every  such  place 
marked  on  his  chart  has  been  the  scene  of  greater  or  less 


276  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

disaster,  and  its  location  on  the  chart  is  the  highest 
evidence  of  honesty  and  wisdom.  Viewed  from  this 
standpoint,  the  sins  and  mistakes  of  the  patriarchs, 
related  by  inspiration,  show  a  faithful  i-ecord  and  point 
out  to  us  the  danger,  by  shoAving  the  disastrous  results 
and  telling  of  the  condemnation  of  God;  yet  all  writers 
against  Christianity  have  used  these  departures  to 
disprove  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  As  well  might 
they  use  the  past  accidents  and  disasters  on  the  seas, 
against  the  art  of  navigation;  and  how  unaccountably 
strange,  when  we  reflect  that  they  first  ignore  the  Bible, 
then  condemn  Noah,  David  and  Solomon  by  the  Bible; 
and  all  this  is  done  by  these  advocates  of  universal 
mental  liberty,  which  allows  every  man  to  do  as  he 
pleases. 

When  we  discriminate  between  what  is  only  "  given  by 
inspiration  "  and  what  is  "inspired,"  and  go  through  the 
Bible  carefully  and  critically,  we  wdll  be  astonished  to 
find  how  many  difficulties  have  been  removed  and  how 
many  serious  objections  have  been  set  aside. 

Nothing  but  what  God  says  dare  we  admit  as  "doc- 
trines," and  by  these  alone  is  every  utterance  to  be 
measured  and  believed,  whether  it  be  the  dividing  of 
seas,  raising  of  the  dead,  or  multiplication  of  the  loaves 
and  fishes.  If  God  says  it,  I  believe  it;  but  if  in  relating 
history  for  instruction  or  correction,  it  becomes  nec- 
essary for  God  to  state  what  some  other  person  says,  and 
the  saying  of  that  "  other  person  "  comes  in  conflict  with 
"  doctrines,"  I  am  compelled  by  reason,  and  all  that  God 
has  said,  to  believe  the  doctrines,  and  disbelieve  what 
God  says  another  person  said. 

Every  utterance  of  the  Bible  was  "given  by  inspira- 
tion," but  if  we  make  every  utterance  inspired,  we  make 
tlie  history  of  the  Bible  destroy  its  laws;  and  what  was 


INTERPRETATION   OF    THE   BIBLE.  277 

only  "given  b}'  inspiration"  kills  Avliat  was  inspired. 
This  puts  a  weapon  into  the  enemy's  hands  with  which 
he  can  destroy  the  Bible,  for  it  gives  him  what  God  says 
to  fight  with,  and  leaves  us  only  what  God  says  another 
said  to  defend  ourselves  with. 

The  whole  of  Paine's  "Age  of  Reason  "  is  built  on  this 
foundation.  All  IngersolPs  cavils  are  nothing  but  an 
array  of  the  histories  related  in  the  Bible  against  its  laws. 

With  this  mode  of  interpretation,  making  no  distinc- 
tion between  history  and  law,  every  civil  government 
could  be  destroyed  and  every  court  of  justice  SAvept  out 
of  existence.  Paul,  in  his  letter  to  Timothy,  lays  down 
the  same  principles  when  he  says — "  Study  to  shew  thy- 
self approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeth  not 
to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth." 
II.  Tim.,  ii.,  15. 

These  plain  and  obvious  rules  of  interpretation,  so 
much  and  so  long  neglected,  remove  very  many  of  the 
greatest  difficulties  found  in  the  Bible. 

These  were  the  rules  of  interpretation  originally  ob- 
served, and  not  till  the  decline  of  Christianity  were  they 
departed  from.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions^  which 
Whiston  and  some  other  learned  men  think  were  written 
by  the  apostles,  in  giving  directions  to  the  laity  for  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures,  say:  "What  defect  dost  thou 
find  in  the  law  of  God  that  thou  shouldest  have  recourse 
to  heathen  fables  ?  For  if  thou  hast  a  mind  to  read  history 
thou  hast  the  book  of  the  Kings ;  if  books  of  wisdom,  thou 
hast  those  of  the  Prophets,  of  Job,  and  the  Proverbs; 
if  thou  desirest  something  to  sing,  thou  hast  the  Psahofi; 
if  the  origin  of  things,  thou  hast  Genesis  ;  if  laws  and 
statutes,  thou  hast  the  glorious  laws  of  the  Lord  God. 
Propose  to  thyself  to  distinguish  what  rules  were  from 
the  law  of  nature  and  what  were  added  afterwards. 


278  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Kead  also  the  books  of  the  Khigs  that  thou  mayest  learn 
which  of  the  kings  were  righteous." — Ect.  Apos.  Con., 
p.  20,  sec.  vi.  How  clear  and  definite  are  these  distinc- 
tions ! 

In  every  department  of  nature  all  requirements  for  the 
guidance,  safety  and  perpetuity  of  every  creature  is 
plain,  and  depends  on  facts  put  within  the  reach  of  every 
creature.  To  man  alone  the  philosophy  of  these  facts 
is  accessible.  Acting  upon  these  facts  brings  all  their 
benefits.  Nothing  but  their  study  and  comi)rehension 
can  give  mental  progress.  Eight  here  is  the  beginning  of 
difiiculties.  In  all  the  dei)art.i-ents  of  Nature's  school  but 
one  instrument  of  development  is  emj)loyed — pressure. 
In  all  the  vegetable  kingdom,  from  the  blade  of  grass  to 
the  giant  red  woods  of  our  coast,  some  of  w^hich  were 
standing  when  God  called  Abraham  out  of  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,  four  thousand  years  ago,  there  is  not  an  ex- 
ception to  this  rule.  Each  from  the  day  it  enters  upon 
the  career  of  life,  has  to  battle  with  the  tempest  and 
conflicts  of  the  elements;  and  if  it  cannot  bear  the 
'^  pressure  "  it  must  die.  How  clearly  the  careful  student 
and  lover  of  nature  sees  this  as  he  beholds  the  giant  fii's 
that  adorn  our  mountain  sides.  Centuries  back  a  pod 
contained  two  seeds.  Bursting  open  on  a  calm  and  quiet 
day  one  fell  into  a  low  valle}^  surrounded  by  high  moun- 
tains and  a  dense  forest,  protected  from  winds  and 
storms.  The  next  day,  in  a  heavy  gale,  the  other  seed 
drops  and  is  carried  to  a  high  summit,  where  exposed 
and  alone,  it  begins  life.  After  three  hundi^ed  years  of 
development,  look  at  the  brothers.  The  one  protected 
by  mountains  and  surrounding  forests  and  relieverl 
from  "pressure,"  erects  its  tall  and  slender  form  and 
sends  its  top  to  mingle  with  the  clouds.  The  other  ex- 
posed to  fierce  tempests  and  reared  under  continued 


INTERPRETATION  OF   THE   BIBLE.  27!) 

pressure,  stands  a  monument  of  strength  and  capable  of 
enduring  for  centuries  what  his  brother  couhl  not  stand 
for  an  hour. 

This  principle  holds  good  in  the  development  of 
the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  powers  of  man.  Take 
twin  brothers,  like  the  two  "seeds;"  subject  one  to 
severe  discipline — put  him  under  "pressure"  in  body 
and  mind,  and  when  he  is  forty  years  old  he  will  weigh 
the  mountains  in  a  scale  and  the  hills  in  a  balance,  and 
stand  with  inquiring  gaze  on  the  threshold  of  infinity. 
Let  his  brother  run  without  physical  or  mental  pressure, 
and  compare  the  two  in  body  and  mind;  and  does  not  all 
this  hold  good  when  applied  to  the  moral  nature  of  man? 
Can  moral  character  be  developed  without  pressure? 
Can  there  be  a  triumph  without  a  struggle ;  a  road  with 
but  one  end;  an  "up"  without  a." down"  or  a  "right" 
without  a  "wrong  ?" 

Nature  never  -puts  capital  stock  in  the  hands  of  an 
idler.  Jesus,  when  speaking  to  the  servant  that  "hid 
his  talent,"  only  expressed  the  natural  law  when  he  said, 
"For  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he 
shall  have  abundance;  but  from  him  that  hath  not  shall 
be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath."  Heaven  is  noth- 
ing but  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest;"  for  Jesus  said,  "  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  net  cast  into  the  sea,  and 
out  of  which  iliej  gathered  the  good  and  cast  the  bad 
away;"  and  a  revelation  without  "difSculties  "  can  never 
produce  progress,  and  could  only  be  adapted  to  the  in- 
ferior creature,  incapable  of  progress,  as  shown  in  our 
first  lecture. 

There  is  nothing  revealed  in  the  Bible  but  what  can  be 
made  to  appear  reasonable  and  shown  to  be  a  fact,  on 
a  comparison  with  nature;  yet,  in  both  cases,  the  phil- 
osoi)hy  of  the  fact  is  an  ever-increasing  study. 


280  COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 

Difficulties  are  the  parents  of  all  progress.  Things 
"hard  to  be  understood  "  is  the  price  paid  for  all  wisdom. 
A  religion  without  difficulties  never  came  from  the 
author  of  nature.  For  the  last  three  thousand  years 
no  pagan  worship  has  contained  anythijig  "hard  to  be 
understood."  The  regions  of  the  dead  have  made  as 
much  mental  progress  as  the  generations  of  the  living. 
Twenty-five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  China  made 
gunpowder,  and  yet  has  gone  no  further  than  to  blaze 
it  away  in  fire-crackers.  Two  thousand  years  before  the 
Christian  era  she  had  the  magnet,  and  yet  a  Chinese 
junk  never  crossed  the  ocean  unless  she  was  towed  by  a 
Christian  ship.  Show  us  one  step  in  mental  or  moral 
progress  for  two  thousand  years,  outside  of  where  the 
Bible  circulates.  It  contains  the  germs  of  all  natural 
and  scientific  progress. 

Another  important  principle  of  Bible  interpretation  is 
found  in  a  knowledge  and  careful  study  of  the  languages 
employed  in  revealing  its  great  ideas — ^I  am  not  now 
going  to  speak  of  the  Hebrew  or  Greelv,  hoivever  import- 
ant— and  ceasing  to  be  spoken,  suffer  no  change.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  there  is  another  language  by  which  the 
original  ideas  are  preserved — I  mean  the  language  of 
symbols,  employed  by  Masons  and  Odd  Fellow^s  to  con- 
vey a  uniform  system  of  teaching  around  the  world. 
This  mode  of  rendering  thoughts  visible  was  the  first 
used  by  mankind,  and  can  suffer  no  change  by  lapse  of 
time.  So  long  as  nature  remains  permanent,  just  so  long 
Avill  a  symbol  convey  the  same  thought  to  every  intelli- 
gent eye.  A  picture  of  a  man  on  horseback  would  con- 
vey the  same  thought  to  men  of  every  tongue. 

Herodotus,  father  of  Greek  history,  tells  us  that  when 
Darius  invaded  the  Scythians,  when  in  a  perilous  situa- 
tion, a  Scythian  messenger  was  sent  to  him  bearing  a 


INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  BIBLE.  281 

mouse,  a  frog,  a  bird,  and  five  arrows.  This  Darius 
thought  a  favorable  omen,  as  the  mouse  lives  in  the 
earth  and  the  frog  in  the  water,  and  sending  earth  and 
water  in  ancient  customs  was  a  surrender;  but  Gobr^  as, 
his  general,  said,  this  is  forced  and  not  half  the  message ; 
for  "unless  3^ou  can  fly  in  the  air  like  birds,  or  swim  in 
the  water  like  frogs,  or  hide  in  the  earth  like  mice,  you 
cannot  escape  these  Scythian  arrows." — Book  iv.,  chap. 
132. 

By  this  ancient  mode  a  fuller  was  represented  by  two 
feet  standing  in  water;  a  charioteer  by  a  hand  holding  a 
whip;  a  judge  by  a  man  without  hands  or  eyes;  justice 
by  a  woman  holding  a  pair  of  scales  evenly  balanced; 
a  ruler  by  a  star,  etc.  The  Bible  was  the  first  book 
printed,  and  the  first  written  in  letters.  In  using  these 
symbols  the  inspired  penman  used  letters  to  express 
them,  as  I  have  done,  calling  each  by  its  name,  as 
"judge,"  "star,"  etc.  This  language  in  the  Bible  an- 
swers the  same  purpose  that  Latin  and  Greek  answers 
in  our  laws  and  sciences,  and  in  the  scriptures  no  two 
writers  ever  use  a  symbol  to  express  two  thoughts,  any 
more  than  our  English  writers  use  a  Latin  word  to  ex- 
press two  ideas. 

This  language  is  never  used  to  teach  moral  lessons, 
but  to  convey  a  prophecy,  where  it  becomes  necessary 
for  a  time  to  conceal  the  meaning,  or  to  preserve  a  doc- 
trine from  corruption.  To  understand  these  and  all  other 
difiiculties  makes  no  better  Christians,  no  more  than  to 
understand  all  our  difficult  constitutional  questions 
makes  a  man  a  better  citizen;  yet  in  both  cases,  it  is 
necessary  to  preserve  the  principles  of  government,  as  a 
false  interpretation  would  destroy  both.  "The  reason 
of  the  law  is  the  life  of  the  law." — Coke. 

Take  a  single  instance:  Paine,  in  his  "Age  of  Keason," 


282  COLLEGE  OF   COLLEGES. 

saj^s  Christ  was  not  even  an  astronomer,  for  lie  sa^s  the 
''  Stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,"  and  argues  the  impossi- 
bility^ (I  write  from  memory),  "as  these  stars  are  larger 
than  our  earth  and  couhl  not  fall  upon  it."  Christ  was 
here  speaking  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Matt. 
xxiv).  He  predicts  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  points 
out  the  course  of  the  Roman  army,  mentions  their  ensign 
(all  in  symbolic  language) ;  then,  speaking  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Jewish  polity  and  the  dispersion  of  the 
Jewish  rulers,  says,  the  "stars"  shall  fall  from  heaven," 
etc.  Here  he  used  a  symbol  that  for  two  thousand 
years  designated  a  ruler,  and  has  done  the  same  to  our 
day. 

Remember  Joseph's  dream,  for  which  he  was  sold  into 
Egypt — "I  dreamed  that  the  sun,  moon,  and  eleven  stars 
made  obeisance  to  me."  His  brethren  understood  it,  and 
his  father  reproved  him,  saying,  "  shall  I  and  thy  mother 
and  thy  brethren  bow  down  before  thee?"  In  this  sym- 
bol his  father  held  the  place  of  the  "sun,"  his  mother 
the  "moon,"  and  his  brethren,  as  heads  or  rulers,  the 
"  eleven  stars."  * 

And  following  this  ancient  symbol  when  we  make  a 
new  state  and  bring  into  our  national  family  a  new  ruler, 
we  put  another  "star"  on  our  flag. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unnatural  and  inconsistent  than 
to  object  to  the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God  because 
it  contains  some  things  "hard  to  be  understood,"  when 
the  very  fact  is  strong  evidence  of  its  divine  origin;  for, 
had  it  been  the  w^ork  of  man,  it  could  contain  nothing 
above  man's  comprehension,  and  could  never  live  in  the 
light  of  progress.  Nothing  but  a  divinely  inspired 
system  could  take  the  world  as  Christianity  found  it, 
overturn  the  wisdom,  philosophy,  and  religion  of  all 
past  ages,  live  in  all  the  progress  the  world  has  ever 


INTERPRETATION   OF   THE   BIBLE.  283 

made,  hold  in  its  grasp  the  educational  institutions,  and 
live  in  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Rising  in  the  morning  3'ou  look  out  on  the  harbor  of 
Portland,  Oregon.  A  ship  lies  at  anchor  with  a  British 
flag  floating  at  her  mast-head;  she  dropped  her  anchor 
at  night,  while  you  were  asleep.  Three  things  you  know, 
although  you  saAV  neither  one.  First — 3' on  know  she 
crossed  the  Columbia  bar.  Second — you  know  she  fol- 
lowed the  meanderiiigs  of  the  Columbia  to  its.  junction 
with  the  WilUunette  ;  there  she  left  the  Columbia  and 
run  u})  the  AYillamette  to  where  she  lies;  and,  third 
— that  there  stood  at  her  helm  an  intelligent  being,  who 
knew  the  meanderings  of  those  rivers. 

Just  as  well  do  I  know,  when  I  see  a  book  that  has 
guided  all  the  progress  of  tlie  last  two  thousand  3'ears, 
without  coming  in  conflict  with  a  single  i)rinciple  of 
nature,  that  this  book  and  nature  have  the  same  author. 
The  very  objections  urged  against  the  doctrine  of  the 
Bible  have  provoked  controversy  and  caused  progress. 
For  instance:  The  Christian  religion  has  been  objected 
to  because  it  has  produced  so  man}-  sects;  but,  on  a  care- 
ful examination,  tliis  will  be  in  its  favor.  Truly  I  can 
say,  if  the  Bible  required  all  Christians  to  unite  in  one 
physical  or  outward  organization,  I  could  not  receive  it 
as  a  revelation  from  God,  for  reason  and  the  Bible 
both  tell  me  that  "  The  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood 
by  the  things  that  are  made" — Rom.  i.,  20 ;  and  all  that 
God  has  made  is  opposed  to  the  thought  of  bringing  all 
men  into  one  form  of  government,  human  or  divine.  On 
everything  the  Creator  makes  He  places  two  marks — • 
"unity"  and  "diversity,"  and  in  every  department  of 
nature,  from  the  lowest  to  tlie  highest  forms  of  life.  By 
"unity,"  the  naturalist  designates  all  the  different  spe- 


284  COLLEGE    OF    COLLEGES. 

cies  of  creation.  By  '^diversity,"  he  tells  the  different 
individuals  of  each  species.  As  a  race  we  all  have  form- 
ation and  characteristics  that  identify  us  with  a  race  of 
creatures  called  men.  Obliterate  this  mark,  and  you  can- 
not tell  a  man  from  a  horse.  But  this  is  not  all  the  marks 
nature  uses — she  puts  the  second  mark,  called  "  variety," 
by  which  you  tell  one  man  from  another.  Obliterate  this 
mark,  and  all  courts  of  justice  are  instantly  destroyed  ; 
for  you  cannot  tell  the  judge  from  the  juror,  nor  the  law- 
yer from  the  prisoner  at  the  bar. 

The  same  is  true  in  the  race  of  animals  we  call 
"horses."  Shape  and  formation  indentify  them  with  this 
race  of  animals  and  distinguish  them  from  every  other 
animal.  Obliterate  this  mark,  and  you  cannot  tell  a  horse 
from  an  ox.  But  nature  has  put  a  second  mark — "va- 
riety." Obliterate  this,  and  the  right  of  property  would 
cease,  for  you  can  no  longer  tell  your  horse  from  my 
horse.  This  holds  good  in  nature,  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest  forms  of  life — the  Creator's  name  on  all  he 
makes,  and  reads — One  Infinite  God — "unity"  and  "di- 
versity," as  we  found  in  our  first  lecture.  Now,  if  God 
has  formed  a  government  on  earth,  have  T  not  a  right  to 
demand  these  same  evidences?  "Loyalty"  will  eter- 
nally unify  them,  and  diversity  will  improve  them.  Is 
not  this,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  true  of  the  church  of  God  ? 
In  this  respect,  I  am  willing  to  submit  it  to  the  most 
rigid  scrutiny,  and  compare  it  with  every  other  institu- 
tion on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

In  all  the  offshoots  and  diversities,  from  Abraham 
until  to-day,  taking  in  Jews,  Mohammedans,  Catholics, 
and  every  Protestant  sect,  there  is  greater  "unity"  of 
sentiment  than  exists  among  those  who  reject  the  Bible 
as  a  revelation  from  God.  Among  all  I  have  named, 
there  is  a  common  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  same  God. 


INTERPRETATION   OF   THE   BIBLE.  285 

Not  an  attribute  of  his  nature  is  denied — justice,  mercy, 
love,  omniscience,  omnipotence,  etc.;  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments  under  his  government,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  human  soul.  But  there  is  no  unity  among  infidels. 
Paine  ssljs — "I  believe  in  one  God  and  no  more,  and  I 
hope  for  future  life."  Others  say—''  Brother  Paine,  you 
are  mistaken;  no  such  being  exists.  Uod  is  a  myth — a 
gross  superstition."  Another  says — ''Death  is  an  eter- 
nal sleep."  They  have  not  a  single  article  of  faith  upon 
which  to  agree;  they  only  unite  to  tear  down  the  hopes 
of  immortality  ;  and  in  this,  the  atheist  gives  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  to  the  spiritualist,  who  is  in  constant 
communication  with  departed  spirits,  separated  by  a  gulf 
as  wide  apart  as  life  and  death;  and  yet  their  imited 
efforts  from  Celsus  till  to-day,  like  the  apostle's  "chain," 
has  only  contributed  to  the  "  furtherance  of  the  gosj)el ;" 
and  all  their  attacks  have  done  is  to  cause  a  more  critical 
study  of  the  word  of  Grod,  showing  its  agreement  with 
nature.  If  I  were  called  on  to  give  a  theological  defini- 
tion of  the  nature  and  eff'ects  of  Colonel  IngersolFs  lab- 
ors and  mission,  the  best  I  can  think  of  is — "The  Devil's 
whetstone  to  sharpen  dull  preachers  on."  But  it  m  ight 
be  asked  if  a  man's  labors  and  mission  contributes  to  the 
futherance  and  building  up  of  a  good  cause,  is  he  not  to 
be  accounted  as  one  of  the  laborers,  and,  with  them,  re- 
ceive a  reward  ?  I  think  not  ;  for  Jefferson  Davis  con- 
tributed more  to  the  destruction  of  slavery  than  all  the 
politicians  and  statesman  from  Washington  to  his  day; 
and  yet  from  the  American  people,  he  was  entitled  to 
no  reward. 


286 


COLLEGE   OF   COLLEGES. 


SUMMARY  OF  ATTENDANCE. 


In  attendance. 

I.  Guests 36 

II.  Delegates 431 

IIL  Others 91 

558 
Twice  counted 33 

525 


Denominations. 


Pres . . 

Cong. 
Epis. . 
Meth. 
Bapt. 


97 
94 
22 
51 
55 


Occupations. 

Ministry 95 

Medicine 18 

Law 12 

Teacliing 13 

Missions 41 

Y.  M.  C.  A . .  5 

The  majority  not  stated. 


Col- 


v^auaua 

Ark 

. . .        o 

1 

Conn 

Ga    

..       2 
..       1 

Ind 

3 

Iowa 

Ivans 

Kv     

...   '  4 

...      3 

1 

Me 

3 

Md 

1 

Mass 

...     18 

Mich 

Minn 

Mo  

...      7 

...       2 

3 

N.  H 

N.  J 

...       1 

...       7 

N.  Y 

N.  C 

0 

...     13 

5 

7 

Pa 

14 

R  I 

1 

S.  C 

Tenn 

Yt 

....       2 

...       1 

3 

Ya  

.  ..       5 

Wis 

5 

England 

120 
. ..     10 

130 


Stu- 
dents. 

11 

1 

29 

1 

5 

4 

5 

4 

6 

1 

94 

20 

3 

3 

13 

55 

60 

11 

20 

32 

10 

2 

1 

5 

9 

12 

417 
14 

431 


CATALOGUE  OF  DELEGATES. 


287 


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COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 


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COLLEGE  OF  COLLEGES. 


Table  III.— GENERAL. 


Vocation,  etc. 


R.  M.  Armstrong. . 
..'oseph  C.  Allen. . . 
Joseph  P.  Allen .  . . 

James  Brophy 

James  Bridie 

S.  Edgar  Briggs. . . 

C.  L.  Boothby 

William  J.  Bevins. 

J.  E.  Brown  

Thomas  Cain 

Thomas  K.  Cree  . . 

E,.  J.  Condon 

J.  W.  Cook 

Otis  Gary 

Y.  M.  Dinsmore.  . 
C.  H.  Dempsey  . . . 

T.  P.  Day 

R.  A.  Farnham. . . 
William  C.  Finck. . 
James  L.  Fowle  . . 
W.  Henry  Grant. . 

F.  A.  Graves 

Luther  Gulick 


Rev.  E.  W.  Hatch 

Charles  E.  Hnrlburt 

T.  G.  Hyman 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Harrovver 

Rev.  M.  E.  Hedding     

George  A.  Hall 

Frederick  Hall. 

S.  H.  Hadley 

H.  H.  Hadley 

Frank  R.  Hagaman 

Charles  A.  Hagaman 

E.  F.  HoUenbeck , 

George  W.  Huntini^ton  . . 

W.  F.  Holbrook 

J.  M.  Hitchcock 

A.  S.  Hill 

E.  L.  Hayford 


Anthony  M.  Kimber 

James  E.  Kyle  

S.  H.Kyle 

A.  D.  Langille 

Andrew  Longacre 

William  J.  Lamison 

H.   J.  Mudge 

George  W.  Mahaffey 

David  McConaughy 

R.  C.  Mor.'se 

Dr.  J.  W.  McKean 

R.  R.  McBurney 

John  F.  Moore 

James  McConaughy. 


State  Secretary,  Mass.  and  R.  I. . 


Presbyterian.     Merchant 

Episcopal     

General  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A 

Presbyterian 

Presbyterian.     Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A, 

Congregational.     Architect 

State  Secretary,  Illinois. 

Baptist 

International  Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A. . . 


Congregational.     Missionary 


Baptist 

Baptist.     Y.  M.  C.  A. 


Methodist.     Jeweller 

Congregational.     Missionary 


Methodist.     Evangelist  .  . 

Director  in  School  for  Christian 
Workers 


State  Secretary,  Pennsylvania. 
Presbyterian.     Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


Meth.  Epis.     State  Sec'y  N.  Y. . 
Methodist  Episcopal.     Missions . 


Methodist 

Methodist 

Reformed.     Ministry 

Ref.  Episcopal.     Ministry 


Physician.        Director      Chicago 
Y.  M.  C.  A. 


Congregational 

Episcopal.     Teaching. 


Congregational  . . . 
General  Secretary. 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretary 

Gen.  Sec'y  International  Com 


General  Secretary  N.  Y.  City  Assn. 

Reformed 

General  Secretary,  23d  St.,  N.  Y. 


Winchester,  Mass. 
Plainfield,  N.  J. 
Greencastle,  Ind. 
Montreal. 
New  Castle,  Pa. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Grcenbnsh,  N.  Y. 
Somerville,  Mass. 

Brattleboro',  Vt. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Baldwinsville,  Mass. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Okayama,  Japan. 
Keene,  N.  H. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Topeka,  Kan. 
St.  Al  ban's. 
Elizabeth,  N.  J, 
Cesarea,  Turkey. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Bigelow,  Minn. 

Springfield,  Mass. 
East  Corinth,  Vt. 

Goldsboro',  N.  C. 

,  N.  Y. 

MechanicsviUe. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

,  N.  Y. 

,  N.  Y. 

Albany,  N.  Y. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Keene,  N.  H. 
Long  Meadow,  Mas3. 
Somerville,  Mass. 


Newport,  R.  I. 
Bethel,  Conn. 
Bethel,  Conn. 
Brattleboro',  Vt. 
Newburg,  N.  Y. 
Montclair,  N.  J. 
Montreal. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


CATALOGUE  OF  DELEGATES. 
Table  III.  —GENERAL—  Continued. 


301 


J.  H.  Manning General  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A, 

W.  D.  Murray 

Samuel  McConaughy Cong.      Gen'l  Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A. . 

John  R.  Mott i  Secretary  Int'l  Committee 

George  C.  Needham.  | 

Albert  W.  Needham.  | 

H.  Stiinley  Newman | 

F.  Mason  North 

Frank  W.  Ober Cong.      Gen'l  Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A . 

C.  K.  Ober. Secretary  Int'l  Committee 

Clans  Olandt,  Jr German  Secretary  Int'l  Com 

Charles  H.  Potter Presbyterian.     Banker 

W.  S.  Pond Congregational.    Manager,  Wana 

j     maker  &  Brown 

J.  R.  Paddock ! 

Harry  B.  Rankin 'Baptist.     General  Secretary . 

L.  S.  Root .Congregational.      I'hysician 

C.  Ruston,  Jr | 

Rev.  A.  V.  V.  Raymond 

David  Allen  Reed iCongregational.     Ministry  . . 

Waldemar  von  Starck Lutheran.     Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A 

John  T.  Swift Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A 

S.  M.  Sayford l Evangelist 

George  A.  Sanford Y.  M.  C.  A. . 

Edwin  F.  See General  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A 

Henry  G.  Smith Presbyterian.     Ministry 

A.  R.  Slader Congregational 

RusRell  Sturgis Episcopal 

A.  H.  Swift. . . 
F.  W.  Sanford 

L.  E.  Smith 

Sidney  H.  Smith Congregatipnal 

W.  J.  Turner Presbyterian.     Ass't  State  Sec'y 

A.  W.  Talcott i 

R.  H.  Tice 

Rev.  A.  D.  Vail ! 

JohnL.  Wenzel P.  E.     Sec'y  Y.  M.  C.  A 

A.M.Wight I 


Plainfield,  N.  J. 
Plainfield,  N.  J. 
WorceEter.  Mass. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


Leominster,  Eng. 
Middletown,  Conn. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Cleveland,  O. 

(Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Orange,  N.  J. 
Allentown,  Pa. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Springfield.  Mass. 
Berlin,  Germany. 
Tokio,  Japan. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Freehold.  N.  J. 
Bellows  Falls. 
Manchester.  Mass. 
Worcester. 
Topsham,  Me. 
IBethel,  Conn. 
Bethel,  Conn. 
I  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

,  N.  Y. 

I ,  N.  J. 

I  White  Plains,  N.  Y. 
I  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Somerville,  Mass. 


J\)e  ''l^ortl^field  BooKs." 


COLLEGE  STUDENTS  AT  NORTHFIELD;  or,  A  College  of 

Colleges,  No.  2.  Conducted  during  July,  1888:  Containing  addresses 
by  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody,  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  M.  D.,  Bishop  Hendrix, 
Rev.  Alex.  McKenzie,  D.D.,  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  D.  D.,  Prof. 
W.  B.  Harper,  and  others. 

The  "  Practical  Talks  "  as  given  in  report  of  last  year's  gathering,  the  demand  for 
which  has  called  for  a  seventh  edition,  has  induced  us  to  publish  an  account  of  this  year's 
proceedings,  none  the  less  "  practical,"  and  we  feel  sure  will  be  as  fully  appreciated. 

12mo,  296  Pages,  Cloth,  $1.00  net. 

Dr.  A .  T.  Pierson  writes :  *'  Admirable  book.  I  deem  it  one  of  the  best  of  all  the 
practical  helps  issued  by  the  press." 

Dr.  Joseph  Cook.—  ''  It  is  well  edited,  well  printed,  and  well  inspired  from  on  High. 
Is  full  of  a  Holy  Fire  of  spiritual  zeal,  which  I  hope  to  see  spread  far  and  wide." 

President  HT.  E.  Gates,  of  Rutgers  College,  writes:  "The  influence  which  has 
gone  out  on  the  College  Life  of  this  country,  from  the  summer  meetings  at  Northfield,  is  so 
potent  for  good,  that  I  welcome  the  extension  and  perpetuation  of  that  influence  through 
this  book." 

SEVENTH  THOUSAND. 

A  COLLEGE   OF  COLLEGES;   or,  Practical  Talks  to  College 

Students.  Given  in  July,  1887,  by  Prof.  Henry  Drummond,  F.R.S.S., 
Rev.  J.  A.  Broadus,  D.D.,  Prof.  Townsend,  Rev.  A.  T.  Pierson, D.D., 
Mr.  D.  L.  Moody,  and  others. 

12mo,  288  Pages,  Cloth,  $1.00  net. 

"  Of  signal  value." — Chazctatdqua  Herald. 

"We  commend  this  volume  very  cordially." — Presbyterian   Witness. 
"  The  volume  closes  with  a  chapter  of  *  nuggets '  from  Northfield,  which  is  no  excep- 
tion, however,  as  the  other  chapters  are  equally  rich  in  '  nuggets.'  " — The  Independent. 

D.  L.  MOODY  AT  HOME.     His  Home  and  Home  Work. 

Embracing  a  description  of  the  educational  institutions  established  at 
Northfield,  Mass.,  together  with  an  account  of  the  various  noted  gath- 
erings of  Christian  workers  at  the  place,  and  the  most  helpful  and  sug- 
gestive lectures,  and  the  best  thoughts  there  exchanged  ;  adding,  also, 
many  helpful  and  practical  hints. 

12mo,  288  Pages,  Cloth,  Eight  Illustrations,  $1.00. 

The  New  York  Independent  says:  "  There  is  nothing  in  the  career  of  this  remark- 
able man  more  striking  than  his  work  at  Northfield." 

The  New  York  Evatjgelist  spoke  most  truly  when  it  said  :  "  The  public  is  unaware 
of  Mr.  Moody's  enormous  investments  at  Northfield,  that  will  pay  him  abundant  interest 
long  after  he  reaches  heaven." 


NEW  YORK:  ClpminrtH      PPI/PII  CHICAGO: 

^2  Bible  House,  Astor  PI.     f 'O/M' '/V  /» •  M 'O  VV:»I  I       748  &  150  Madison  St, 


SUGGBSTIVE  BOOKS   ■>  « 

-  -  i^OR  BIBLE  RBJS^BBRS. 


NEV/  NOTES  FOR  BIBLE  READINGS.  By  the  late  S.  R.  Briggs. 
with  brief  Memoir  of  the  author  by  Rev.  Jas.  H.  Brookes,  D.  D., 
Crown  8vo,  cloth,  |1.00  ;  flexible,  75  cents. 

"  New  Notes  "  is  not  a  reprint,  and  contains  Bid/e  Readings  to  be  found  in  no  other 
similar  work,  and.  it  is  confidently  believed,  will  be  found  more  carefully  prepared,  and 
therefore  more  helpful  and  suggestive. 

Everyone  of  the  60,000  readers  of  "  Notes  and  Suggestions  for  Bible  Readings  "  will 
welcome  this  entirely  new  collection  containing  selections  from  D.  L.  Moody,  Major  Whittle, 
J.  H.  Brookes,  P.  D.,  Prof.  W.  G.  Moorehead,  Rev.  E.  P.  Marvin,  Jno.  Currie,  Rev.  W.  J 
Krdman,  Rev.  F.  E.  Marsh.  Dr.  L.  W.  Munhall,  etc. 

NOTES  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BIBLE  READINGS.   By 

S.  R.  Briggs  and  J.  H.  Elliott. 

Containing,  in  addition  to  twelve  introductory  chapters  on  plans  and  method  of  Bible 
study  and  Bible  readings,  over  six  hundred  outlines  of  Bible  readings,  by  many  of  the 
most  eminent  Bible  students  of  the  day.  Crown  8vo,  262  pp.  Cloth,  library  style,  $1.00 ; 
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320  pp.     Fine  cloth,  $1.00. 
That  the  author  of  this  work  has  a  faculty  of  presenting  the  "  Secret  Things  "  that  are 

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BIBLE  BRIEFS  ;  or,  Outline  Themes  for  Scripture  Students.     By 

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The  plan  of  these  expositions  is  suggestive  rather  than  exhaustive,  and  these  suggestions 
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BIBLE  HELPS  FOR  BUSY  MEN.     By  A.  C.  R  Coote. 

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type,  with  an  alphabetical  index.      140  pages,  16mo.;  paper,  40c.;  cloth  flex.,  60c. 
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A  characteristic  series  of  Bible  readings,  full  of  suggestion  and  instruction. 

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30  cents  ;  cloth,  60  cents. 

A  series  by  one  pre-eminently  the  man  of  one  book,  an  incessant,  intense,  prayerful 
student  of  the  Bible. 

SYMBOLS   AND   SYSTEMS   IN   BIBLE  READINGS. 

Rev.  W.  F.  Crafts.     64  pages  and  cover,  25  cents. 

Giving  a  plan  of  Bible  reading,  with  fifty  verses  definitely  assigned  for  each  day,  the 
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plained  concisely  and  clearly. 


12mhHouse,AstorPl.     ["  1^^)19^  p.  i'f^^d  I       148  &  150  Madison  St. 


REF^BRENCE   BOOKS 


FOR 


BIBI.E    S'J^UnBNTS. 


JAMIESON,  FAUSSET   &    BROWN'S   Popular  Portable  Com- 
mentary.      Critical,  Practical,   Explanatory.       Four  volumns  in  neat 
box,  fine  cloth,  |8.cx);  half  bound,  $10.00. 
A  new  edition,  containing  the  complete  unabridged  notes  in  clear  type  on  good  paper, 

in  four  handsome  12  mo.  volumes  of  about  1.000  pages  each,  with  copious  index,  numerous 

illustrations  and  maps,  and  a  Bible  Dictionary  compiled  from  Dr.  Wm.  Smith's  standard 

work. 

Bishop  Vincent  of  Chautauqua  fame  says  :  "  The  desi  condensed  commentary  on  the 

whole  Bible  is  Jamieson,  Fausset  &  Brown." 

CRU  DEN'S  UNABRIDGED  CONCORDANCE  TO  THE 
HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  With  life  of  the  author.  864  pp.,  Svo., 
cloth  (net),  $1.00;  half  roan,  sprinkled  edges  (net),  2.00;  half  roan, 
full  gilt  edges  (net),  $2.50. 

SMITH'S  BIBLE  DICTIONARY,  comprising  its  Antiquities,  Biog- 
raphy, Geography  and  Natural  History,  with  numerous  maps  and  illus- 
trations. Edited  and  condensed  from  his  great  work  by  WiLLlAM 
Smith,  LL.  D.     776  pages,  Svo,  many  illustrations,  cloth,  $1.50. 

THE  BIBLE  TEXT  CYCLOPEDIA.  A  complete  classification  of 
Scripture  Texts  in  the  form  of  an  alphabetical  list  of  subjects.  By 
Rev.  James  Inglis.     Large  Svo,  524  pages,  cloth,  |].75. 

The  plan  is  much  the  same  as  the  "  Bible  Text  Book"  with  the  valuable  additional 
help  in  that  the  texts  referred  to  are  quoted  in  full.  Thus  the  student  is  saved  the  time  and 
labor  of  turning  to  numerous  passages,  which,  when  found,  may  not  be  pertinent  to  the 
subject  he  has  in  hand. 

THE  TREASURY  OF   SCRIPTURE    KNOWLEDGE;  consist- 
ing of  500,000  scripture  references  and  parallel  passages,  with  numer- 
ous notes.     Svo,  778  pages,  cloth,  $2.00. 
A  single  examination  of  this  remarkable  compilation  of  references  will  convince  the 

reader  of  the  fact  that  "  the  Bible  is  its  own  best  interpreter." 

THE  WORKS  OF  FLAVIUS  JOSEPHUS,  translated  by  William 
Whiston,  a.  M.,  with  Life,  Portrait,  Notes  and  Index.  A  new  cheap 
edition  in  clear  type.     Large  Svo,  684  pages,  cloth,  $2.00. 

100.000    SYNONYMS    AND  ANTONYMS.      By  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel 

Fallov^s,  a.  M.,  D.  D.      512  pages,  cloth,  f  i.oo. 

A  complete  Dictionary  of  synonyms  and  -words  of  opposite  meanings,  with  an  appen- 
dix of  Briticisms,  Americanisms,  Colloquialisms,  Homonims,  Homophonous  words.  Foreign 
Phrases,  etc.,  etc. 

"  This  is  .one  of  the  best  books  of  its  kind  we  have  seen,  and  probably  there  is  nothing 
published  in  the  country  that  is  equal  to  it." — Y,  M.   C.  A,   Watchman, 


NEW  YORK:  C|c>minrtW     X^OWOW  CHICAGO. 

12  Bible  House,  Astor  PI.     T  •  <^' ' » ' »/ V  P  •  ^V^  V  ^^  1 1       -j^q  ^  jgg  Madison  St 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01089  5839 


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